Syrian Army air defense forces reported that they successfully intercepted four cruise missiles fired by Israel at targets along the Syrian shore. There were no indications from Syrian state media that anything was hit.
Indications are that the Israeli missiles were fired along the coast from the Lebanese city of Sidon. Israeli warplanes violate Lebanese airspace almost daily, and use it for attacks against neighboring Syria.
Its not clear what Israel was intending to target in the first place. Generally, they attack Syrian military sites with an Iranian presence, though. Attacks along the coast are rare because of the Russian presence in that area.
Russia broadly does not allow Israel to operate in areas too close to their forces, and encourages Syrian interception of missiles in those areas. So far officials haven’t gone public, beyond Syrian Army officials saying the interceptions happened, so much remains uncertain.
Syria Intercepts Israeli Missiles Fired Along the Coast
Four cruise missiles reported fired from Israeli planes
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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