Airstrike in Syria in September 2018. Image by Getty Images

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Airstrikes near Damascus blamed on Israel targeted an arms depot and hit a weapons storage facility controlled by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied the Tuesday night airstrikes, which Russia’s Defense Ministry said endangered two civilian flights landing at the Damascus and Beirut airports.

Three Syrian soldiers also were injured in the airstrikes.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The Israel Defense Forces reported Tuesday night only that an IDF aerial defense system was activated in response to an anti-aircraft missile launched from Syria.

Some media outlets reported that several Hezbollah leaders were hit in the airstrike.

Newsweek reported Wednesday morning that Israel was responsible for the airstrike, citing information from a U.S. Department of Defense source with access to the information from Israeli senior military officers with direct knowledge of the attack.

A Syrian military source told the Syria’s official SANA news service that “Syrian Air defenses intercepted hostile missiles launched by the Israeli warplanes from over the Lebanese territories and downed the majority of them before reaching their targets.” It confirmed damage to an arms depot and three injured soldiers. Other Syrian media reported that Israel hit a Hezbollah base.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that the Syrian military did not fully deploy its air defense system to allow the two civilian aircraft to fly out of danger.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount