Two Israeli missiles targeting the T4 military airbase in Homs governorate, in western Syria, were shot down by Syrian air defenses, a military source told SANA news.
The source added that the other missiles killed one soldier, wounded two, and caused damage to a munitions depot, and some structures and equipment.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a pro-opposition conflict monitor, at least five people died, including a Syrian soldier, and a munitions warehouse was destroyed.
The T4 airbase, 90 km east of Homs, has been targeted by Israeli Air Forces before.
SOHR added that beyond the Syrian army, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah also have military bases and warehouses at the airbase.
Israel had carried out strikes only hours earlier in Quneitra province, which includes the Golan Heights, which reportedly killed three soldiers and wounded seven others, in response to two rockets fired from Syrian forces, at Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights, on Saturday night.
Tehran has backed President Bashar al-Assad in the ongoing Syrian war, now in its eighth year. Israel says it is set on avoiding the IRGC or Iran-backed Hezbollah ingraining itself in Syria. Israel sees the IRGC as a threat and has repeatedly launched strikes into Syria. Iranian elements have repeatedly been targeted in Syria, but Tehran has not publicly retaliated.
"We will not tolerate firing at our territory and will respond with great force to any aggression against us," Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Sunday morning.
Israel became increasingly public with its attacks carried out in Syria at the beginning of the year, when it started announcing its responsibility for strikes in real time via Twitter.
We have started striking Iranian Quds targets in Syrian territory. We warn the Syrian Armed Forces against attempting to harm Israeli forces or territory.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) January 20, 2019
In January, Israeli Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz, said that Israel was intensifying its attacks against Iranian “terror ambitions” in Syria.
The SOHR also wrote that Syrian regime forces targeted areas surrounding Kafr Ajna town, south of Idlib. The army launched “about 100 missiles filled with incendiary bombs” that caused an outbreak of fires in the area.
US President Trump tweeted on Sunday evening, calling for the end of bombing in Idlib province.
Hearing word that Russia, Syria and, to a lesser extent, Iran, are bombing the hell out of Idlib Province in Syria, and indiscriminately killing many innocent civilians. The World is watching this butchery. What is the purpose, what will it get you? STOP!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 2, 2019
“Hearing word that Russia, Syria and, to a lesser extent, Iran, are bombing the hell out of Idlib Province in Syria, and indiscriminately killing many innocent civilians. The World is watching this butchery. What is the purpose, what will it get you? STOP!” read Trump’s tweet.
The United Nations Security Council met in May to discuss the recent upsurge of fighting and rising civilian deaths in Syria’s Idlib province.
The Syrian regime intensified its bombardments on the jihadist-controlled province, sparking concerns of a potential humanitarian crisis if the regime launches a full scale offensive to retake the region.
Some 180,000 people have been displaced since late April, according to the UN’s humanitarian office (OCHA), and millions more could be affected by the fighting.
Now in its eighth year, the Syrian conflict has resulted in nearly half a million dead, and the displacement of over 11 million people — representing half of its pre-war population.
