Syrian state media claims at least four civilians were killed when Israeli warplanes fired several missiles in central Syria region of Hama early on Friday, adding that its air defense forces downed most of the missiles.
The state-run SANA news agency quoted an unnamed military official as saying Friday’s attack took place shortly before dawn when Israeli warplanes flew over neighboring Lebanon.
“At about four o’clock [02:00 GMT] in the morning today, the Israeli enemy launched an aerial aggression with a barrage of missiles coming from the direction of the Lebanese city of Tripoli, aiming at some targets in the vicinity of Hama governorate. Our air defences confronted the enemy’s missiles and downed most of them,” the report quoted a military source as saying.
SANA later added that “the Israeli aggression resulted in the martyrdom of a family, including a father, mother and two children” on the western edges of the province.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor that tracks Syria’s war, said it recorded 39 Israeli attacks inside Syria in 2020 that hit 135 targets, including military posts, warehouses or vehicles.
The raids also come amid intensifying low-altitude Israeli warplane missions in Lebanese skies that have caused jitters among residents.