A Syrian soldier was killed early on Sunday and three others injured in Israeli strikes on several positions in and around Damascus, Syrian state media said.
A Syrian soldier was killed early on Sunday and three others injured in Israeli strikes on several positions in and around Damascus, Syrian state media said.
The Israeli army, meanwhile, said it had targeted a Syrian military command centre as well as targets and infrastructure belonging to the Syrian army and air defence in response to two drones launched towards Israel from Syrian territory.
The statement was a rare acknowledgement by the Israeli military of action in Syria, where it has launched hundreds of strikes since the country's civil war erupted in 2011, mainly targeting army positions and Iran-backed fighters.
"A soldier was killed and three others injured following an aerial aggression launched by the Israeli enemy after midnight" on Sunday, Syria's state news agency SANA reported.
The strike "was launched from the occupied Syrian Golan Heights targeting several military positions in the southern region and a residential building in the Kafr Sousa district of Damascus", it added.
It said that aerial defence systems had intercepted and downed a number of missiles "despite their intensity".
The news agency published a photo showing a fire in what appeared to be a crater caused by the blast.
An AFP journalist visiting the scene said the strike caused a crater about 30 metres deep and 10 metres wide.
The facade of an eight-storey building was damaged, with its windows shattered, while around 30 cars were left charred around the impact site.
The vicinity was cordoned off by police, while firefighters attempted to extinguish the fire in the area.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a Syrian pro-government fighter had been killed and six others injured in Israeli strikes targeting a building in Kafr Sousa and a military headquarters south of Damascus.
Local radio station Sham FM had reported "the explosion of a munitions depot following an Israeli attack that targeted a position near the capital".
"The blasts were very strong and came in succession," a resident of the eastern Damascus neighbourhood of Mezzeh told AFP, adding that this was followed by "the strong odour of gunpowder".
The Israeli army meanwhile said that "two UAVs approached the area north of Eilat from Syrian territory and were successfully intercepted" on Saturday.
"In response, overnight, the IDF (Israeli military) struck a Syrian military command centre and infrastructure sites. Additionally, terror targets used by the Syrian military's Aerial Defence Unit were struck," it added.
"The Syrian regime is responsible for all terror activities occurring within its territory and will be held accountable for it," the army said.
Israel's strikes on Syria had intensified since Palestinian militant group Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel sparked war in the Gaza Strip, before easing after an April 1 strike blamed on Israel hit the Iranian consular building in Damascus.
Israel has repeatedly said it will not allow arch-foe Iran to expand its foothold in Syria.
© Agence France-Presse
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