BEIRUT: Syrian military air defences struck an Israeli warplane and shotdown Israeli missiles targeting the T4 air base in Homs province inresponse to an act of “aggression” on Sunday night, Syrian state media said.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said Israel does not comment on foreignreports.
Israel has grown deeply alarmed by the expanding clout of its arch enemyIran during the seven-year war in neighboring Syria. Israel’s air force hasstruck scores of targets it describes as Iranian deployments or armstransfers to Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Damascus, as well as its allies Iran and Russia, blamed Israel for an April9 air strike on the same Homs base, an attack that killed seven IranianRevolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) members. Tehran vowed at the time torespond.
Syrian state news agency SANA said the missile attack on Sunday caused onlymaterial damage.
“Our air defence systems thwarted an Israeli aggression and brought down anumber of missiles that were targeting the T4 airport,” it cited a militarysource as saying.
The air defences hit one of the “attacking planes and forced the rest toleave” Syrian air space, it added.
In May, Israel said it attacked Tehran’s military infrastructure in Syria,accusing Iranian forces of firing rockets at the Israeli-occupied GolanHeights, in the most extensive military exchange between the two foes.
An Israeli-Iranian showdown also flared over Syria in February, when Israelsaid an armed drone coming from the T4 base penetrated its air space.Israel blew up the drone and carried out a raid on Syrian air defences, inwhich one of its F-16 jets was downed.