Foreign Sources Report: Israeli Attack on Syrian Air Base

Reports Thursday night said that Israeli forces had attacked units of the Syrian army near Damascus – and the Syrians in turn reported that they had shot down “enemy missiles” with an antimissile system. The reports on the Israeli attack appeared in foreign media. There was no confirmation or denial by the IDF or the government of the reports. Israeli security sources told Channel 20 that there had been no Israeli losses reported by the IDF.

Early Friday, Syrian sources reported hearing explosions on the Syrian side of the Golan border fence. The reason for the sounds was unclear, the sources said, but they sounded like missile explosions, they said.

The attack Thursday night occurred at an air base near Damascus, used by the Syrian Air Force and possibly Iranian forces. The Al-Manza airport, where the foreign reports said the attacks took place, has been hit before by Israel, most recently last March, the foreign reports said.

In recent weeks, there have been several reports of Israeli attacks on Syrian and Iranian forces. In mid-July Syrian media blamed Israel for an attack on a military position next to the airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. Media reports said that nine people were killed in the incident. Israeli officials had no comment on the report. The report, by the government-controlled Sana news agency, said that “the Zionist enemy continues to support terrorists who are based in Quneitra, and in Islamic State forces. The enemy fired a missile to one of our military positions.” Syrian rebel groups said that the attack was aimed at the headquarters of a private Syrian military producer.

Just a few days before that, Syria blamed another attack on Israel, with Damascus claiming that a Syrian army position in the area of the central Syrian city of Homs had been attacked. Radar that had recently been deployed enabled the Syrian forces to respond in time, and the attack was foiled by antimissile defense systems. Syrian rebel groups reported that several people were killed in that attack, and that a number of the dead were Iranians.