Israel airstrikes at military airbase in Syria’s Homs
HOMS, Syria (North Press) – Israeli warplanes launched missiles at the Syrian government’s T-4 airbase in the eastern countryside of the city of Homs on Wednesday.
The official Syrian government news agency SANA said the Israeli aircraft fired the missiles from southern Syria soon after 10 p.m. at the T-4 airbase in Homs province.
SANA added that Syrian air defenses intercepted most of the incoming missiles, and there were only material damages, but didn’t specify if it was inside the base.
Wednesday’s attack was the second this week, after Israeli strikes on Monday killed one civilian, three government troops, and seven allied foreign fighters, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Monday’s strikes hit Syrian army positions south of Damascus as well as positions belonging to Iran-backed paramilitaries, including fighters from Lebanese Hezbollah, in the southern province of Daraa.
Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah warned on Sunday that the group would kill an Israeli soldier for each of its fighters slain by Israel after one of its combatants was killed in an Israeli strike in Syria on July 20.
According to Associated Press Agency, Israel rarely comments on such reports, but is believed to have carried out dozens of raids targeting Iran’s military presence in Syria.
Since June, Syria has accused Israel of conducting at least nine air raids in its territory.
Iran, a key ally of the Syrian government, is considered by Israel a regional and security threat. Israel has vowed to prevent any permanent Iranian military buildup in Syria, particularly near the borders.
In recent months, Israeli officials have also expressed concern that Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group that operates in Syria, is trying to establish facilities to produce precision-guided missiles. Tensions have also risen along the Israel-Lebanon border.
Since the civil war broke out in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of raids in Syria against Tehran-backed Hezbollah and Iranian forces supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad, as well as government forces.