Israeli missile attack targets areas around Damascus (Update1)

Israeli missiles hit targets near the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday in a rare daytime attack, a Syrian military source said.

Israel has conducted strikes for years against what it has described as Iranian and Iran-backed targets in Syria, where Tehran has deployed forces to back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fighting armed opponents since 2011.

The military source said “bursts of rockets” hit areas around Damascus in the early afternoon. Syrian air defences shot down “a number of them”.

“The attack led to the wounding of a soldier and some material damage,” the source said.

The Israeli military declined to comment.

Israeli strikes usually take place under the cover of darkness.

Israel has intensified attacks on Syrian airports – including Damascus International Airport – to disrupt Iran’s increasing use of aerial supply lines to deliver arms to allies in Syria and Lebanon including Hezbollah, regional diplomatic and intelligence sources have told Reuters.

Tehran has adopted air transport as a more reliable means of ferrying military equipment to its forces and allied fighters in Syria following disruptions to ground transfers.