A Syrian security source says the Israeli “aggression” launched from Lebanese airspace was aimed at military installments.
Israeli rockets have killed at least five people and wounded 19 others in central Syria, state media reported, citing local sources.
Sunday’s attack also sparked a fire and caused material damage near the town of Masyaf west of Hama, according to Syria’s official news agency SANA.
An unidentified security official told SANA that Israel launched “air aggression” from Lebanese airspace against several Syrian military units. The source added that Syrian air defenses engaged and shot down some of the missiles.
Israeli jets have launched strikes against Syria from Lebanon, presumably to avoid Syrian airspace – where many regional and international forces, including those of Russia and the United States, operate.
The director of the public hospital in Masyafu said the victims were civilians, SANA reported.
During Syria’s 13-year civil war, Israel has regularly carried out airstrikes – mostly targeting locations linked to Iran.
But the Israeli army does not confirm or comment on its operations in Syria.
Sunday’s attack comes amid rising regional tensions, with Iranian officials still vowing to respond to the July assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
Iran, which maintains a military presence in Syria, promised Israel “severe punishment” for the killing, but more than 40 days after the assassination, no Iranian attack has taken place.
Last week, Mohsen Chizari, the top commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said Iran’s response was coming “at the right time.”
Iran launched a direct attack on Israel with hundreds of drones and missiles in April in response to Israel’s bombing of an Iranian diplomatic facility in Damascus.
Israeli and American air defenses in the region helped shoot down most of the projectiles, minimizing the damage caused by the attack.
Separately, Hezbollah launched its own attack against Israel on August 25 in response to the killing of one of its top commanders in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut that also killed several civilians.
Israel said it foiled the operation in a pre-emptive strike, but a Lebanese group linked to Iran said it had successfully hit an Israeli military intelligence post near Tel Aviv.
Cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel continue almost daily. Hezbollah says it is targeting military sites in northern Israel and the Syrian-occupied Golan Heights in support of Palestinians in Gaza, where an ongoing Israeli offensive has killed more than 40,900 people.
The Lebanese group has vowed to continue its military operations until the war in Gaza ends, while Israeli officials have vowed to push Hezbollah from the country’s borders, including by all-out war if necessary.
