The Syrian army said in a statement that Israel carried out air strikes on areas near the city of Homs in central Syria, causing material damage, but no injuries.
BEIRUT – The Syrian army said in a statement that Israel carried out air strikes on areas near the city of Homs in central Syria at dawn on Sunday, causing material damage but no injuries.
The Israeli military said a Syrian anti-aircraft missile exploded over Israeli territory, triggering another round of strikes.
Syrian official media quoted an unnamed military official as saying that the air defenses shot down some of the missiles launched by Israeli warplanes flying over neighboring Lebanon.
The Israeli authorities have not commented on the Homs airstrike. But the army said that one of the Syrian air defense missiles exploded over Israeli territory without causing any damage. The Israeli police said that the remnants of the missile landed in the city of Rahat in southern Israel.
In response to the missile, Israeli aircraft bombed the air defense battery, from which the anti-aircraft missile was launched. The army said it also bombed other targets, without elaborating.
Israel, which has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment nearby, has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets in government-held parts of neighboring Syria in recent years, but it rarely acknowledges it.
The last suspected Israeli air strike in Syria was on June 14 near the capital, Damascus, injuring one soldier.
Israel has also targeted international airports in Damascus and the northern Syrian city of Aleppo several times over the past few years, often disrupting them.
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