DAMASCUS – Israeli jets bombed several areas in southern Syria and nearDamascus on Thursday drawing retaliatory fire from the ground, a monitoringgroup said.
The Israeli military made no comment on the reported strikes, during whichSyrian air defences opened fire for the first time since the deadly downingof a Russian transport plane in September, the Syrian Observatory for HumanRights said.
“Israeli forces bombarded for an hour positions in the southern andsouthwestern suburbs of Damascus as well as in the south of Syria at theborder of Quneitra province,” Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Syrian state media said air defences downed a number of “hostile targets”close to the capital.
“Our air defences fired on hostile targets over the Kisweh area and downedthem,” the official SANA news agency reported, citing a military source.
The Israeli military denied that any of its aircraft were hit, while notcommenting on the reported strikes.
“Reports regarding an IDF (Israeli military) aircraft or an airborne IDFtarget having been hit are false,” it said in an English-language statement.
It said a Syrian surface-to-air missile was fired in the direction of anopen area of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights but it was unclear if ithad hit Israeli-held territory.
Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes in neighbouring Syriaagainst what it says are Iranian targets, many of them in the area south ofDamascus.
Abdel Rahman said there are “weapons depots belonging to the LebaneseHezbollah (group) as well as Iranian forces” in Kisweh.
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Iran and Russia are the government’s key allies in the civil war that hasraved Syria since 2011, and Moscow’s intervention in 2015 dramaticallyturned the tables against the rebels.
The accidental downing of the Russian transport aircraft by Syrian groundbatteries during an Israel air strike on September 17 killed 15 servicepersonnel and prompted Moscow to significantly upgrade Syrian air defences.
Moscow pinned responsibility for the downing on Israel, saying its fighterjet used the larger Russian one for cover, an allegation Israel disputed.
The move raised fears in Israel that its ability to rein in its arch foeIran’s military presence in its northeastern neighbour would be sharplyreduced.
Abdel Rahman said Thursday was the first time Syria’s air defences had beencalled into action since the September downing and the delivery of advancednew Russian missiles.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had told Moscow his governmentwould continue to hit hostile targets in Syria to prevent Iran fromestablishing a military presence across the border.
He added that Israel would “continue security coordination” with Russia. -APP / AFP
