DAMASCUS – The Syrian army says its air defenses intercepted severalmissiles fired by Israeli warplanes towards a military position near thecapital, Damascus.
In a statement carried by state media on Wednesday, the army said theIsraeli aircraft used Lebanese airspace for the missile strikes.
Loud blasts were heard in Damascus at around 3:30 a.m. local time.
“Our air defense systems blocked them and destroyed most of them,” said thestatement.
“The general command of the armed forces holds Israel fully responsible forthe dangerous consequences for its repeated, aggressive and uncalculatedadventures,” it added.
The new Israeli act of aggression was first reported by state media, whichsaid the missiles had been aimed at a scientific research center in Jamrayavillage.
Over the past few years, Israel has frequently attacked military targets inSyria in what is considered as an attempt to prop up terror outfits thathave been suffering heavy defeats against Syrian government forces.
Israel has also been providing weapons to anti-Damascus militants as wellas medical treatment to the Takfiri elements wounded in Syria.
Netanyahu visits Golan Heights
The latest attack on Syria came shortly after Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu paid a rare visit to the occupied part of Syria’s GolanHeights and peered across the border.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the occupied Golan Heightson February 6, 2018.
Netanyahu said the regime was ready for “any scenario and I wouldn’tsuggest to anyone that they test us.”
The warning came one week after the Israeli minister of military affairsstressed that a new war with Lebanon would also likely involve Syria.
“Israel’s northern front extends to Syria; it is not just Lebanon. I am notsure that the Syrian government can resist Hezbollah’s attempts to dragthem into a war with Israel,” Avigdor Liberman said.
Israel launched two wars on Lebanon in 2000 and 2006, in both cases theHezbollah resistance movement inflicted heavy losses on the regime’smilitary.
The regime seized the Golan Heights from Syria after the 1967 Six-Day Warand later occupied it in a move that has never been recognized by theinternational community.
It has built tens of illegal settlements in the area ever since and hasused the region to carry out a number of military operations against theSyrian government.