Syrian air defenses thwart several Israeli missile attacks in Hama

Sputnik
Tue, 04 Sep 2018 19:05 UTC

© AP Photo / Ariel Schalit

An Israeli air force jet fighter plane

The Syrian news agency reports about a missile attack on Hama and Tartus carried out by the Israeli Air Force. The latter, however, has not yet commented on the strike.

Syrian air defense thwarted several rockets shot by Israeli planes in the Wadi al-Uyun region in Hama province and in Tartus, SANA reported. The state agency stated that military air defenses were used to confront several rockets fired by Israeli planes near Hama.

As the Al-Masdar media outlet reported, not all of the missiles have been intercepted, only five of them. According to media, the rockets were launched by the Israeli side, targeting Hama. The media failed, however, to specify what objects in Syria were targeted.

It is still unknown whether the airstrikes were carried out in close proximity to the Russian naval support facility in Tartus.

Prior to that, Syrian news agency SANA reported, citing witnesses, about several explosions that were heard in the countryside of Hama province.

Earlier, a Syrian government TV station alleged that the explosions were an aggression.

On July 23 Israeli planes attacked positions in the province of Hama (220 km from Damascus) from Lebanon's airspace, causing no casualties. At the time, the Syrian air defenses managed to intercept three missiles.

On August 3, the Syrian military shot down an Israeli drone in the sky over the suburb of El-Kiswa in south-west Damascus.

Comment: Israel would not limit its actions to Syria if it felt the need to deal with "Iranian threats" in the region, the country's Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman claimed on September 3, according to Reuters.

"We are certainly monitoring everything that is happening in Syria, and regarding Iranian threats, we are not limiting ourselves just to Syrian territory. This also needs to be clear," Lieberman said speaking at a news conference in Jerusalem.