RTWed, 04 Mar 2020 22:59 UTC
© Reuters/Alaa al Faqir
Missiles and bullets tore up the sky above the Syrian cities of Homs and Quneitra shortly after midnight, as air defenses engaged what state media described
as "enemy targets" identified as Israeli warplanes or rockets.Footage posted on social media in the early minutes of Thursday showed flashes of anti-aircraft weapons and the thunder of missile launches over the city, located in central Syria near the border with Lebanon, about halfway between Damascus and Aleppo.
Israel has not officially acknowledged the operation, but IDF warplanes were spotted earlier flying over Lebanon, so the Syrian reports seem likely to be accurate. The government in Tel Aviv has routinely launched air and missile strikes at "Iranian targets" in Syria over the past several years.
The SANA news agency also reported Israeli strikes near Quneitra, in the Golan Heights. The area was reportedly heavily scouted by Israeli drones on Wednesday.
There have been no reports of explosions or casualties on the ground as of yet. Syrian media claimed
at least one "hostile object" had been intercepted in the air, which would be consistent with a missile fired by Israeli planes from inside Lebanese airspace.Reports from Homs say the
Israeli missiles targeted Dabaa Military Airport, east of the city of Qusair. According to the Syrian Army, none of the missiles reached their target. This could not be independently confirmed.
Comment: Israeli forces used
human shield tactics
Two civilian airplanes bound for Qatar were reportedly used as cover by Israeli jets launching missiles from Lebanese airspace against targets near the Syrian cities of Homs and Quneitra.
Syrian air defenses engaged incoming missiles shortly after midnight local time on Thursday, both near Homs in central Syria and Quneitra in the south, on the armistice line with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Following the attack, reports appeared that at least two flights - one passenger, one cargo - had to change course to avoid getting struck by air defense missiles.
The flights were tentatively identified as a Qatar cargo flight QR8294, bound for Doha from Basel, Switzerland. The other was QR419, a passenger plane that had taken off for Doha from Beirut, Lebanon and made a loop around Tripoli before continuing its course south of Homs.
Israel regularly strikes targets within Syria claiming that it is bombing "Iranian" targets. When asked about it last month, PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he knew nothing, wouldn't comment on military operations one way or another, and laughed it off as possibly being the work of the "Belgian Air Force."
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