Syria is rocked by explosions

Israel struck multiple targets near the Syrian capital late Sunday, triggering anti-aircraft fire from the country’s air defenses that shook Damascus. It was the latest attack by Israel on the war-ravaged country.

A Syrian military statement reported an Israeli attack near Damascus International Airport and said its air defenses confronted Israeli rockets coming from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. It said the defenders intercepted or shot down most of them.

In a rare acknowledgment of operations in neighboring Syria, Israel said its warplanes attacked targets of the Palestinian militant Islamic Jihad group south of Damascus in addition to sites in the Gaza Strip. It said the sites attacked were used for “research and development of armaments” that are manufactured in Syria and the Gaza Strip. It said the sites also produce dozens of kilograms of rocket fuel each month.

The military said the attacks “were carried out in response to the attempted attack this morning on the security fence (in Gaza) and the launching of rockets from the Gaza Strip at Israel.”

Islamic Jihad statement that said the in a airstrikes killed two of its members, identifying them as Salim Salim, 24, and Ziad Mansour, 23. The militant group vowed to respond to the deaths of its members.

Residents said multiple explosions shook Damascus for about 15 minutes as air defenses fired back.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the Syrian conflict, said the explosions resulted from Israeli bombing of suspected Iranian-backed militias in the vicinity of Damascus International Airport.

Israel frequently strikes at targets inside Syria, but has largely refrained from public admissions of its covert military operations there.