Syria
A handout picture released by SANA on February 24, 2020 reportedly shows Syrian air defense intercepting an Israeli missile in the sky over the Syrian capital Damascus. Photo: AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Israel on Sunday carried out a series of air strikes in the vicinity of the central government-controlled Homs province, Syrian state media and the Israeli military said, in a rare claim of responsibility for the latter.
“The Israeli enemy carried out air strikes from the direction northeast of Beirut, targeting some points in the vicinity of the city of Homs,” Syrian state media SANA reported, citing a military source.
Syrian air defense systems intercepted the missiles, which only caused material damages, according to SANA.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said that a member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was killed in the strike.
The monitor added that the strikes targeted an area in northeastern Homs province in a zone “considered a popular incubator for the Lebanese Hezbollah,” adding that munition depots belonging to pro-Iran militias are most likely present in the area.
Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on regime-controlled areas of Syria throughout its 11-year civil war, often claiming to strike pro-Iran militias, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah group which supports the Syrian army.
While it rarely claims such strikes, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed responsibility for the Sunday strikes and said that they came “in response to the launch of an anti-aircraft rocket from Syria into Israeli territory.”
“IDF fighter jets struck an anti-aircraft battery in Syria,” the military said on Twitter, adding that the jets “struck additional targets in the area.”
The IDF has launched an investigation into the Syrian rocket strike on Israeli territory.
Israel has also repeatedly warned that it would not allow archrival Iran to expand its base in Syria.
On April 2, an Israeli missile strike on Homs injured five Syrian soldiers and caused material damages.
Another Israeli missile strike days before killed a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Syria, initiating a strong response from the IRGC who vowed it would retaliate.
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