Syria state media says possible Israeli attack in country’s south
SANA news agency and state TV report the ‘Israeli aggression’ struck Tal al-Hara hill but only caused material damage.
Syria’s state media said on Wednesday an Israeli missile attack had targeted the country’s southern province of Daraa, but did not report any casualties.
State news agency SANA and state TV added that the “Israeli aggression” struck Tal al-Hara hill that is home to Syrian army posts adding that it only caused material damage.
The media gave no further details about the early Wednesday attack that came a month after Israel targeted the same area.
The attacks were earlier described as “probably Israeli” by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, who said they targeted Tall al-Hara in Daraa province, south of Damascus, and two areas in the neighbouring province of Quneitrathe.
“The regime’s anti-aircraft defence has been activated to counter the attack,” director of the Observatory Rami Abdel Rahmane said.
“Some missiles have been shot down, others have hit their target.”
The Observatory reported “loss of life” without giving further details.
Hundreds of air raids
The Tal al-Hara hill, a strategic area overlooking the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, was for many years a major Russian military radar outpost until rebels took it over in 2014 before it was again recaptured by the Syrian army last year.
The zone has been a target of Israeli raids against Tehran-backed militias which have become entrenched in southern Syria and the occupied Golan Heights near the border with Israel.
Last month, the Syrian army said it had shot down a number of Israeli missiles targeting the location.
In recent years, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria that it says have targeted its regional archrival, Iran, as well as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which it calls the biggest threat to its borders.
The strikes came after Hezbollah’s leader said earlier this month that the group’s rockets could reach key Israeli sites along the Mediterranean coast, including Tel Aviv.
Hassan Nasrallah also said that Iran was “able to bombard Israel with ferocity and force” but “will not start a war”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu countered that his country would deliver a “crushing military blow” on the both Hezbollah and Lebanon if it were to attack.
The Syrian conflict has killed more than 370,000 people and drawn in world powers since it started in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.