An Israeli missile strike has caused a large explosion and fire at a military site near Damascus international airport, Syrian state media have reported. The Sana news agency said a fuel tank and warehouses were damaged, but Syrian rebel sources said an arms depot run by Lebanon's Hezbollah movement was hit.
Israel's Intelligence Minister Israel Katz told Israeli Army Radio that the incident was 'consistent' with Israel's policy to prevent Iran smuggling weapons to Hezbollah. He said: 'I can confirm that the incident in Syria corresponds completely with Israel's policy to act to prevent Iran's smuggling of advanced weapons via Syria to Hezbollah in Iran.'
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, reported that the powerful blast was heard across the capital at dawn on Thursday. Pro-government Al-Mayadeen TV cited sources as saying that missiles had been fired by Israeli jets flying inside the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Two senior rebel sources based in Damascus told Reuters that the missiles had hit an ammunition depot in a closed military area used by Iran-backed militias operating alongside the Syrian army, led by Hezbollah. Israel is thought to have bombed arms shipments intended for Hezbollah several times since the Syrian conflict began.
In a rare step last month, the Israeli military confirmed that its jets had struck several targets inside Syria in a raid that prompted the Syrian military to fire ground-to-air missiles. On Wednesday, a high-ranking Israeli military officer briefed reporters that approximately 100 missiles intended for Hezbollah had been destroyed in that raid.
