Syrian air defenses thwart hostile targets in the capital Damascus: Reports

Syrian anti-aircraft defenses brought down “hostile targets” over the capital Damascus, state media said on Wednesday.

“Anti-aircraft defenses downed hostile targets south of Damascus,” said the official SANA news agency, without providing further details.

SANA added that the aggression was carried out from “Lebanese and Palestinian territories.”

An AFP correspondent in Damascus heard several large explosions.

According to an Al Arabiya correspondent, Israel striked Iranian targets in Syria.

Israel sometimes launches its attacks on Syria from planes flying over neighboring Lebanon.

Since the start of Syria’s war in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on the country’s territory against what it says are Iranian and Hezbollah targets.

It comes after Israel’s air defenses intercepted four rockets fired from Syria on Tuesday morning, prompting reported retaliatory missile strikes.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Tuesday’s rockets were fired from positions around the capital held by groups loyal to the Damascus government.

The flareup comes after a major escalation in and around Gaza last week following Israel’s targeted killing of a commander of Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, which is allied with Damascus.