Israel hits Syria, killing soldier after anti-aircraft fire

A Syrian soldier was killed and five others were wounded in an Israeli attack near the capital Damascus, Syrian state media said.

The Israeli military said it attacked targets in Syria shortly after an anti-aircraft missile was fired from the Arab country into northern Israel early Wednesday.

Israel said the Syrian rocket exploded in the air and was not intercepted by Israeli air defenses, but it activated warning sirens in northern Israel. There were no reports of injuries or damage there.

In a rare statement acknowledging attacks inside Syria, the Israeli army said it struck Syrian facilities used in targeting Israeli aircraft, including a radar and anti-aircraft batteries.

Syrian official news agency SANA reported that Israel fired surface-to-surface missiles in the vicinity of the capital city Damascus and some of them were brought down by air defenses. It said a Syrian soldier was killed in the attack, which caused material damage, and five soldiers were wounded.

Israel has made hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria over the past decade of the civil war in the Arab country, but its government rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations.

Israel has acknowledged, however, that it is targeting bases of Iran-allied militias, such as Hezbollah, which is fighting on the side of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces in the country’s civil strife.