SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Israeli air strikes hit targets in Syria
Damascus, July 2 (AFP) Jul 02, 2023
Israel carried out air strikes in Syria near the government-held city of Homs, Syrian state media reported on Sunday, and the Israeli army later said it had responded to rocket fire.

During more than a decade of war in Syria, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on Syrian territory, primarily targeting Iran-backed forces and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters as well as Syrian army positions.

"The Israeli enemy carried out air strikes coming from the northeast of Beirut, targeting some points in the vicinity of the city of Homs," which is about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Lebanon, Syrian state-run news agency SANA said, quoting a military source.

In a statement several hours later on Sunday morning, the Israeli military confirmed it had conducted strikes. It said they targeted "an anti-aircraft battery in Syria, as a response to the launch of an anti-aircraft rocket from Syria into Israeli territory".

It added that Israeli jets had also "struck additional targets in the area", and that the Syrian anti-aircraft rocket had "exploded in the air" and no injuries were reported.

SANA had reported that Syrian air defences intercepted some missiles, and that there had been some "material" losses.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said the targeted area in the northeastern Homs countryside was a Hezbollah stronghold housing arms depots belonging to the Iran-backed group.

Israel rarely comments on the strikes it carries out on Syria, but it has repeatedly said it will not allow its arch foe Iran to expand its footprint there.

On June 14, Israel carried out air strikes near Damascus wounding a soldier, according to SANA.

The Observatory, based in Britain, said at the time that the strikes had targeted arms depots belonging to pro-Iran fighters.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Russian space chief to meet NASA head for first time in eight years
BlackSky to supply satellite imagery and analytics for Latin American security operations
Cascade raises 59M to develop full stack satellite communications platform

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Palantir, the AI giant that preaches US dominance
China and US wrap first day of trade talks
'Food on table' outweighs health risks for Philippine e-waste dismantlers

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
North Korea warns US against pushing it to give up nukes
Iran vows stronger response if attacked again by US, Israel
Ukraine says Russian attacks targeted western city, home to airfield

24/7 News Coverage
BAE Systems completes delivery of NOAA and NASA space weather satellites for fall launch
Building blocks of life found in distant star system suggest origins in interstellar space
Deep-sea fish confirmed as a significant source of ocean carbonate



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.