The Syrian army says its air defences shot down Israeli missiles launched at an area of countryside near the capital of Damascus overnight.
The army detected fire from the disputed Golan Heights, it said, causing “some material losses”.
If its claims are accurate, it would be the second such attack in less than 24 hours, however, Syria did not specifically attribute responsibility to Israel for the first incident.
We’ve had no comment from Israel yet.
For context: Since the outbreak of its war with Hamas, Israel has escalated its strikes on Iranian-backed militia targets in Syria and has also struck Syrian army air defences and some of its forces within its territory.
It’s believed Lebanon-based, Iran-backed Hezbollah militants also have a strong presence in Syria, with Israel keen to avoid that influence growing further.
The Golan Heights, from where Israel launches many of its strikes according to Syrian officials, was part of Syria until 1967, when Israel captured most of the area in the Six Day War, occupying it and effectively annexing it in 1981.
Syria tried to regain the Heights in the 1973 Middle East war, but was thwarted. Israel and Syria signed an armistice in 1974.
In 2000, Israel and Syria held their highest-level talks over a possible return of the Golan and a peace agreement. But the negotiations collapsed and subsequent talks also failed.
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