At least two Syrian service members have been killed and three more people injured by alleged “Israeli air aggression” against a military facility in the central province of Homs, the state Syrian Arab News Agency reported on Sunday.
Syria’s air defenses were activated to repel the attack at around 6:20pm local time on Sunday, an unnamed military official told SANA. The missiles reportedly came from the direction of northern Lebanon, and while some of them were intercepted, several projectiles hit the Shayrat military airport near Homs, killing at least two soldiers and inflicting some “material losses.”
The strikes apparently targeted the airbase’s runway, a military source told Reuters, amid reports that the airbase had recently been used by Iranian forces.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) neither confirmed nor denied the latest raid, in line with its long-standing policy to not comment on operations conducted outside the country.
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.
On Sunday, Netanyahu was officially tasked with forming a new right-wing coalition government, paving the way for his political comeback.