At least two blasts were heard in Syria’s capital city on Monday afternoon
FILE PHOTO: Smoke rises over Damascus, Syria. © AP / Stringer
One soldier was injured after Israeli airstrikes on Damascus, Syrian state media reported, describing a rare daytime attack following a string of bombings on the capital and other cities in recent weeks.
Syria’s air defenses activated to repel the attack at around 2pm local time on Monday, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), which cited an unnamed military official.
“The Israeli enemy carried out an air aggression with rockets from the north of the occupied Palestinian territories, targeting some points in the vicinity of the city of Damascus,” the source said, adding that “a number” of missiles were shot down but that the attack “resulted in the injury of a soldier and some material losses.”
A local media outlet shared a photo purporting to show the attack in progress, with smoke trails seen as air defense munitions confronted incoming missiles.
📸 صورة …. الدفاعات الجوية السورية تتصدى لعدوان "إسرائيلي" في سماء دمشق وتدمر صواريخ معادية🔆 https://t.co/3NgG8DxjF3 🔆 pic.twitter.com/Idr9n6vs07
— شمس نيوز SHMS NEWS (@shmsnews) October 24, 2022
Though such strikes are rarely conducted during the daytime, Israeli warplanes have repeatedly bombed targets inside Syria over the country’s decade-long struggle against jihadist rebels, with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once acknowledging “hundreds” of strikes over the years. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not confirm Monday’s reported attack, and typically refrain from commenting despite continued allegations by Damascus.
State media reported a similar air raid last Friday, citing a military official who said a barrage of Israeli rockets targeted sites in the capital. They added that most were shot down, but said the attack caused some “material” damage.
Another recent attack pinned on Israel left five Syrian soldiers dead, while the IDF has bombed both the Damascus and Aleppo international airports on more than one occasion since the summer.
