Syria says repels Israeli air attack, Israel says downs Golan rocket

Syrian military air defences thwarted an Israeli attack on Sunday, shooting down several missiles in the south of the country, state media said.

“Our air defence systems thwarted … an Israeli air aggression … and prevented it from achieving any of its goals,” a military source told state news agency SANA. It gave no further details.

An Israeli military spokeswoman declined to comment.

In a seperate report by Reuters, the Israeli military claims to have shot down a rocket fired at the Israel-occupied Golan Heights. The military’s statement did not specify where the rocket was launched from. The northern Golan is close to both Syrian and Lebanese territory.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged an Israeli attack last week on what he called an Iranian arms cache in Syria, where Tehran provides Damascus with vital support.

He told his cabinet Israel had carried out “hundreds” of attacks over the past years of Syria’s war to curtail Iran and its ally Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Usually silent about its attacks on Iranian targets near its frontier, Israel has lifted the veil this month, a sign of confidence in a campaign waged amid occasional tensions with Syria’s big-power backer Russia.