Israel targets western Syria, casualties reported

Syria’s official news agency SANA reported that the air raid targeted Hama’s countryside and the coastal city of Tartous on Sunday, with the Syrian military intercepting some of the Israeli missiles.

“At about 7:15 a.m. on Sunday, the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial act of aggression with bursts of missiles from the direction of northern Lebanon, targeting some sites in the countryside of Tartous and Hama provinces, and our air defenses intercepted the missiles and downed some of them,” SANA quoted an unnamed military source as saying.

“The aggression caused the injury of three army personnel, in addition to some material damages,” the news agency added.

Local media sources showed a huge billow of smoke rising from the site of the Israeli missile attack on the town of Masyaf in Hama.

Early on Tuesday, Israeli aircraft carried out a new strike against the international airport in Aleppo from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the coastal city of Latakia.

Syrian media, quoting a military source, reported that the attack caused only material damage to the runway of Aleppo International Airport, and took the airport out of service.

Israel frequently violates Syrian sovereignty by carrying out missile attacks on targets inside the country, mostly using the airspace of Lebanon or the occupied territories.

The targets include residential buildings. Military positions especially those of the Hezbollah resistance movement, which has played a key role in helping the Syrian army in its fight against foreign-backed terrorists, are also frequently hit by Israeli strikes.

The Tel Aviv regime has been a main supporter of terrorist groups that have battled the government of President Bashar al-Assad since the foreign-backed militancy erupted in Syria in early 2011.

Syria has repeatedly complained to the UN over Israeli assaults, urging the Security Council to take action against Tel Aviv’s crimes. The calls have, however, fallen on deaf ears.