Syria Air Defenses Intercept Several Israeli Projectiles

The Syrian army said that its air defense system downed several projectiles fired from Israeli-occupied territories on Friday.

According to Syria’s official news agency SANA the Israeli aerial aggression occurred on Friday night.

“Our air defense systems intercepted luminous objects coming from the occupied territories (Israel) and downed several of them,” SANA said quoting a regime military source.

Other reports, quoting some residents in the Syrian capital, said several loud explosions were heard near Damascus.

Haaretz reports: The Syrian Arab News Agency, Syria’s state news agency, quoted a Syrian military source who said that the air defense system was activated against missiles fired at western Damascus from the direction of  Quneitra, in the Golan Heights, within Israeli territory. A number of missiles were intercepted.

The state television channel showed footage of the night sky with a point of light firing up into it and the sound of shooting. It did not immediately report casualties or material damage. 

Residents in Damascus said they heard several loud blasts shortly before the television news bulletin that reported the incident. 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor affiliated with the Syrian opposition, reported that three explosions were heard in southern and southwestern Damascus. According to the report, the areas that were targeted have an Iranian military and Hezbollah presence.

Other reports associated with the opposition say that the strikes were carried out from Lebanese airspace.  

The strikes follow a statement given to the Guardian Thursday night, in which a diplomatic source said that a convoy of Iranian missiles was transferred into Syria via Iraq’s Anbar province last week. The source said that Israeli and U.S. intelligence were unaware of the transfer.