Israeli airstrikes on Syria kills 4 civilians, including toddler - As fourth and final S-300 became operational

RT
Sun, 30 Jun 2019 21:53 UTC

© Reuters / Ammar Awad

Syrian air defenses have responded to apparent missile attacks in the vicinity of Damascus and Homs, SANA reports, with its military source claiming that a number of 'hostile targets' have been intercepted.

At least 4 people, including a baby, were killed in the strikes on the Damascus countryside, while 21 others suffered injuries, according to state TV. One of those injured is a month-old baby girl, who suffered burns and facial wounds. Besides the casualties, a number of houses on the outskirts of Damascus suffered "material damage."

The missiles were launched from Lebanese airspace, where Israeli aircraft were spotted making low-altitude flights around the time of the incident, according to TV channel Al-Mayadeen, Al-Masdar News, and other regional sources.

The targets allegedly included Mezzeh military airport near Damascus, as well as the nearby towns of Jamraya, Sahnaya, and Daraya. Another site was also targeted in Homs Governorate, near the Lebanese border.

Israel has repeatedly carried out cross-border raids into Syria in the past, but has rarely admitted this. It has yet to comment on the latest incident. However, in recent weeks, Tel Aviv confirmed striking multiple Syrian Army installations in retaliation for cross-border tensions surrounding the occupied Golan Heights.

Damascus has urged the UN to put an end to these blatant sovereignty violations by Israel on several occasions. The Syrian government believes that Israeli strikes only bolster the fighting spirit of the remaining terrorists in the country.

Comment: Fort Russ provides more details:

At midnight, the Israeli aviation and fleet carried out a combined attack on Syrian territory of great proportions with dozens of missiles launched, of which it is part of cruisers from ships. The missiles were flying from Lebanon.

In the video below, Syrian air defense systems can be seen shooting down eleven (11) missiles.

You can watch the video here.

The rampage above the Syrian sky lasted more than an hour. The Syrian PVO (air defense) has intercepted more than 50% of the rockets. Locations that are battered are found in the provinces of Damascus, Homs and Hama. Several rockets hit the base Mezeh south of Damascus, a warehouse near the Syrian-Lebanese border. The Syrian army operated the S-200 large-scale systems from the province of Homs in the direction of Lebanon.

Syria is using the S-200's for a number of reasons. The S-300 Favorite of the PMU is in Hama but has a 200km range. The cruise missiles are coming from a bigger range than that. But this attacks with curse missiles are not effective. Therefore they can not attack with reasonable accuracy from the distance that Israel is firing from. Still, Syria has managed to down more than 60% of the Israeli missiles. The Syrian army unfortunately can not attack Israel planes in Lebanon air space, even though Lebanon has either allowed Israel to use its Airspace, or while Lebanon is in no position to counter Israeli presence in its airspace.Still Israel is frustrated that they can not penetrate the A2-ad zone to start a more serious air raid at a closer range, that is within 200 km, because their planes would be decimated.

Sputnik:

A correspondent from the scene also reported that a series of powerful blasts had rocked the skies over Damascus.

According to a Syrian military source, the missile attacks were carried out by the Israeli Air Force. There was no immediate confirmation on that matter from Israel.

"The Syrian Air Defence Force repelled the attack of missiles launched by Israeli military aircraft from Lebanese airspace in the direction of our military positions in Homs and near Damascus", the source said.

The attack resulted in four people being killed, while 21 more were wounded, local media reported on Monday.

Lebanese TV-channel Al-Mayadeen, meanwhile, has reported that explosions also heard on the Syria-Lebanon border, correspond in time with Israeli aviation's low-altitude flights in the south of Lebanon.

Later, a source at Beirut International Airport also said that the attack had been conducted by the Israeli military from Lebanon.

"We observed that before the attack on Syria ten or more Israeli military aircraft entered the airspace", the source said.

Tel Aviv has previously admitted to carrying out "hundreds" of air attacks against Syria in recent years, and said that the strikes are aimed at countering an alleged Iranian and Iranian-linked presence in the war-torn country. Damascus has condemned the attacks as a blatant violation of international law. Iran has said that its presence in Syria has been limited to helping Damascus fight Daesh (ISIS)*, al-Qaeda,* and other terrorist groups.

Zero Hedge notes these attacks occurred just as the S-300s became operational:

Syrian state media published footage showing missile intercepts of inbound projectiles.

It is also as yet unknown if the S-300s were active during the air strikes, however, Israeli media reports suggested that newly installed S-300s at several sites as well as Iranian troop presence was a prime cause behind the Israeli action, despite the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) neither confirming nor denying the strikes:

The reported strikes came just hours after an Israeli satellite imagery analysis company said Syria's entire S-300 air defense system appeared to be operational, indicating a greater threat to Israel's ability to conduct airstrikes against Iranian and pro-Iranian forces in the country.

Until now, only three of the country's four surface-to-air missile launchers had been seen fully erected at the Masyaf base in northwestern Syria.

Israel has threatened to destroy the S-300 system if it is used against its fighter jets, regardless of the potential blowback from Russia.

Journalist Danny Makki called the overnight air strikes "certainly one of the biggest Israeli attacks on Syria this year" - given that two provinces were targeted, as well as multiple installations and a civilian neighborhood being hit.

See also: The Real Story Behind Israel's Attack on "Iranian" Targets in Syria and Trump's Abandonment of the Iran Deal