The Syrian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that at four soldiers were killed and three others wounded in an Israeli missile attack on Damascus.
Syrian air defenses were activated as Israel fired several surface-to-surface missiles at military positions near the capital, Damascus, state media reported.
State media quoted an unidentified Syrian military official as saying that the missiles were fired from northern Israel shortly after midnight and that most of them were shot down. It added that the military was still looking into the "results of the aggression."
The Saudi Arabian Al Hadath news channel reported that the target of the attack was a shipment of weapons for the Iran backed Hezbollah terror group.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said several missiles struck areas near Damascus International Airport on the southern edge of the capital as well as several suburbs. It said the areas hit host Syrian military positions as well as some of Iran-backed fighters.
The attacks came hours after the IDF said an Israeli drone crashed on the Syrian side of the border Tuesday, adding that an investigation was opened into the case.
There was no comment from the Israeli military on the attacks near Damascus.
It was the latest attack on Syria since April 14, when several missiles hit Syrian army positions near Damascus.
Israel has reportedly staged hundreds of strikes on targets in Syria over the years but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations.
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Archive photo of Syrian air defenses activated during a strike attributed to Israel
(Photo: EPA)
It has acknowledged, however, that it targets the bases of Iran-allied militias, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah group that has fighters deployed in Syria. It says it attacks arms shipments believed to be bound for the militias.
Israel justifies its strikes on facilities and weapons inside Syria by saying that an Iranian presence on its northern frontier is a red line.