Israel has shot down "a target" over Golan Heights on the border with Syria, hours after it was accused of a missile strike at a military site near Damascus' international airport.
A photo taken from the rebel-held town of Douma shows flames rising in the distance which are believed to be coming from Damascus International Airport following an explosion. Photo: AFP
The Israeli military Twitter account announced it had intercepted a "target" using its Patriot missile defence system over the Golan Heights on the border with Syria, without elaborating.
The military declined to confirm the target was a drone, but media reported it as such.
It came just hours after a missile strike damaged what Syrian rebels said was an arms depot run by Lebanon's Hezbollah movement.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, reported that the powerful blast believed to be located near the main road leading to Damascus International Airport, was heard across the capital at dawn on Thursday.
Syrian state news agency Sana said several missiles had been fired at a military site south-west of the airport, causing explosions that resulted in some material losses.
Israel said the explosion was "consistent" with its policy, but it stopped short of confirming it was responsible.
Pro-government Al-Mayadeen TV cited sources as saying that missiles had been fired by Israeli jets flying inside the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Two senior rebel sources based in Damascus told Reuters news agency the missiles had hit an ammunition depot in a closed military area that was used by Iran-backed militias operating alongside the Syrian army, led by Hezbollah.
Appearing to confirm Israeli involvement, Intelligence Minister Israel Katz told Israeli Army Radio: "I can confirm that the incident in Syria corresponds completely with Israel's policy to act to prevent Iran's smuggling of advanced weapons via Syria to Hezbollah in Iran. Naturally, I don't want to elaborate on this."
"The prime minister has said that whenever we receive intelligence that indicated an intention to transfer advanced weapons to Hezbollah, we will act."
Israel regards Hezbollah, and its key backer Iran, as its biggest threat. It went to war with Hezbollah in 2006 and the group has grown considerably more powerful since then.
The Israeli military declined to comment on the reports, however Israel is thought to have bombed arms shipments intended for Hezbollah several times since the Syrian conflict began.
Recent suspected Israeli attacks in Syria
- 23 April 2017: Alleged Israeli attack on a training camp used by militia in Syria's Golan Heights region, kills three members of the Syrian pro-government National Defence Forces, according to the group.
- 17 March 2017: The Israeli military says its aircraft attacked several targets in Syria and shot down a Syrian missile.
- 22 February 2017: Israeli aircraft reportedly bomb several Syrian air bases near Damascus, including a Hezbollah convoy travelling with the Syrian army.
- 12 January 2017: The Syrian government accuses Israel of firing several rockets on the Mezzeh air base from the Sea of Galilee.
- 30 November 2016: Israeli aircraft fire missiles on the Syrian town of Saboura, west of Damascus, according to Syrian military sources.
- 18 January 2015: Six Hezbollah fighters and several Iranian soldiers, including a general, die in suspected Israeli air strikes in Syria's Golan Heights region.
- 19 December 2015: Suspected Israeli missiles hit Jaramana district of Damascus, killing nine Hezbollah fighters, including leading figure Samir Qantar.
In a rare step last month, the Israeli military confirmed that its jets had struck several targets inside Syria in a raid that prompted the Syrian military to fire a number of ground-to-air missiles, one of which was intercepted over Israeli territory.
On Wednesday, a high-ranking Israeli military officer briefed reporters that approximately 100 missiles intended for Hezbollah had been destroyed in the raid.
- BBC