MOSCOW, January 9. /TASS/. Israel carried out several air and missile strikes against the Syrian armed forces’ military facilities located in the Qutifah area close to Damascus on Tuesday morning, the Syrian Defense Ministry said in a statement posted on its website.
It noted that the Israelis used surface-to-surface missiles and warplanes carry out strikes against Syrian soil. According to the Syrian army, its air defense systems intercepted several missiles and struck one Israeli aircraft. There is no information on its fate.
For its part, Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported citing some sources in the Syrian opposition that the target was a weapons depot.
On December 2, Israel fired several surface-to-surface missiles at a military facility near Al-Kiswah, a few miles south of Damascus. According to the Al-Ekhbariya TV network, one of the missiles hit a military facility and caused damage, but no casualties were reported.
Israel insists that it supports neither of the parties to the Syrian conflict and is not involved in the talks to resolve the crisis in that country. According to foreign media, Israeli aircraft regularly conduct air raids against Syria aimed, in particular, against fighters of the Hezbollah Lebanese Shia movement who fight alongside Syrian government forces.