Syria says it intercepts Israeli projectiles near Golan Heights

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Syrian air defense batteries on Friday intercepted projectiles coming from Israel and downed a number of them, the official news agency SANA reported.

"Our air defense systems intercepted luminous objects coming from the occupied territories (Israel) and downed several of them," SANA said quoting a military source.

A later report described the projectiles as "hostile targets" which were fired "towards the province of Quneitra" near the Golan Heights, parts of which are annexed by Israel.

Earlier SANA reported a "loud explosion" around the capital Damascus. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said "three explosions" shook southwest Damascus on Friday.

"They were Israeli strikes that targeted the Kiswah region where weapons warehouses belonging to Iran and (its Lebanese proxy) Hezbollah are located," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

The Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that overlooks the Syrian side of the Quneitra crossing, May 10, 2018. /VCG Photo

Recent Israeli air strikes in Syria

Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria, most of them against what it says are Iranian and Hezbollah targets.

The latest report comes amid soaring tensions in the region between Israel's arch-foe Iran and the United States. The stand-off had been simmering since the United States last year withdrew from the 2015 nuclear treaty which Iran reached with major world powers.

In recent days the US accused Iran of alleged threats and last week deployed an aircraft carrier group and B-52 bombers to the Gulf.

In April, Syria said an Israeli air strike targeted a town in central Hama Province north of Damascus, wounding three combatants and destroying buildings. State media at the time said Syrian air defenses intercepted "some of the Israeli missiles."

In March, Syria accused Israel of having attacked targets just north of second city Aleppo, adding that its air defenses had shot down several missiles, after a string of Israeli raids in January.

A warplane dropping a payload in the southwestern Syrian province of Daraa during a Syrian-government-led offensive in the area, July 23, 2018. /VCG Photo

On January 12, 2019, Syrian air defenses shot down Israeli missiles targeting a transport ministry warehouse at the Damascus international airport, SANA reported at the time.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that strike and said Israel was "more determined than ever to act against Iran in Syria."

Just over a week later Israel announced its Iron Dome aerial defense system had intercepted a rocket fired from Syria by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force. In response, Israeli fighter jets carried out further strikes inside Syria, targeting Iranian facilities and Syrian aerial defense batteries.

Turkey, Russia discuss issue of Idlib

Besides Israel and Iran, Turkey and Russia have also been playing active roles in Syria's prolonged conflicts. Turkey's Defense Ministry said on Friday that the first meeting of the Turkish-Russian joint working group on Syria's Idlib issue was held in Ankara.

During the meeting, which was held on Thursday and Friday, the two countries discussed the latest development in the region, particularly in Idlib, and measures to be taken under the agreements reached in Astana and Sochi, the ministry said in a statement.

Damaged houses at the marketplace of Jisr al-Shughour district in Idlib Province, Syria, May 14, 2019. /VCG Photo

The working group was established after Turkish and Russian presidents spoke by phone late on Monday in an effort to curb recent escalation in the rebels' stronghold.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his concern over cease-fire violations in the past two weeks by Syrian government forces in the Idlib de-escalation zone.

The fresh offensives by Syrian government's army targeting Idlib harmed prospects of establishing the Syrian constitutional committee, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.

Russia has long been pressuring Turkey to launch a military offensive against the opposition-held areas, saying that Ankara failed to convince the opposition to retreat out of a buffer zone that agreed on the Sochi deal last September.

A Chinese envoy on Friday asked the international community to fight terrorism in Syria to help restore security and stability in the country.

"It is imperative to fight terrorism resolutely and safeguard the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Syria in order to restore security and stability across the country as soon as possible," Ma Zhaoxu, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, told a Security Council meeting on Syria.

China is watching closely the situation in northwest Syria, said Ma. In the past few months, he said, terrorist groups have strengthened control in Idlib and put civilians in harm's way in areas under their control.

China supports counter-attacks on the heinous acts of the terrorist groups, said the Chinese ambassador.

(Cover: The Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in the south of Damascus, Syria, May 21, 2018. /VCG Photo)

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Source(s): AFP ,Xinhua News Agency