Israel and Syria Report Mutual Air and Missile Attacks

The Israeli army stated that its air defense intercepted and destroyed a rocket fired from Syria towards Israel on Sunday. Meanwhile, Syria reported that Israel conducted an airstrike against Damascus on the same day. According to AFP, the Israeli army announced that 'a rocket was launched towards the northern Golan Heights a few hours ago, and the Iron Dome air defense system intercepted it.' An unnamed Israeli army spokesperson confirmed to AFP that the rocket was launched from Syria but did not provide further details. Concurrently, the official Syrian news agency SANA quoted a military source stating that Syrian air defenses responded to Israeli airstrikes in southern Syria early Sunday. This report, without further details, indicated that Syrian air defenses 'prevented Israeli airstrikes from reaching their targets in southern Syria.' Rami Abdulrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, mentioned that the targeted area in southern Damascus is near the Kiswa region, where weapon depots for Hezbollah, an ally of the Syrian regime, and Iranian fighters are located. However, he noted that it is unclear whether these depots were destroyed. Additionally, Russian news agency Interfax reported that the Russian National Defense Control Center stated that Syrian air defense crews managed to intercept 'seven Israeli missiles' before they hit the southeast Damascus airport area. This was achieved using Russian-made 'Pantsir' and 'Buk' defense systems. Israel has vowed to counter the presence of the Islamic Republic and its allies in Syria, and General Gadi Eisenkot, the Chief of Staff of the Israeli army, who will soon leave this position after four years, stated in interviews with the New York Times and Israeli media that his tenure coincided with 'thousands' of Israeli strikes against 'Iranian targets' and their allies in Syria. Israeli Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Benjamin Netanyahu also explicitly confirmed on January 13 that his country carried out the attack on Damascus airport, the capital of Syria. Meanwhile, Syrian state television reported an explosion in the southern outskirts of Damascus on Sunday, which it described as 'terrorist,' resulting in several injuries. According to Reuters, the explosion occurred on a highway in southern Damascus and was reported to have taken place near a military intelligence office, causing several casualties. The Syrian civil war has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and displaced more than half of the country's population since 2011.