Photo taken on July 1, 2019 shows a damaged shop in the suburb of Damascus, Syria. A total of four civilians, including an infant, were killed on Sunday night as a result of a series of Israeli strikes targeting areas in Syrian capital Damascus and the central province of Homs, said state news agency SANA. (Xinhua/Ammar Safarjalani)
DAMASCUS, July 1 (Xinhua) -- A total of four civilians were killed on Sunday night as a result of a series of Israeli strikes targeting areas in Syrian capital Damascus and the central province of Homs, said state news agency SANA.
The four civilians, including an infant, were killed in the Ashrafiyet Sehnaya suburb west of Damascus, said the report.
At midnight, heavy explosions were heard in Damascus and its western and southwestern countryside of Damascus as well as the vicinity of the Mazzeh Air Base and the Jumraya area near the Scientific Research Center.
The official media outlets cited a military statement as saying that Israeli warplanes fired their missiles from inside the Lebanese airspace and the occupied Golan Heights.
It said the air defenses managed to intercept a number of missiles before reaching their targets, particularly in the second wave of attacks with targeted areas in the southern countryside of Damascus near Quneitra province in southern Syria.
Similar strikes were reported in the southern countryside of Homs Province, said the report, adding that the air defenses managed to intercept a number of missiles.
The official TV said that some civilian properties, such as homes in the suburbs of Damascus, suffered some damage.
The attack was first felt when a big explosion was heard in Damascus followed by consecutive smaller explosions, according to Xinhua reporter.
It's not the first missile attack to target Syria, as similar Israeli attacks have repeatedly targeted Syrian military sites in Syria.
On June 12, the Syrian air defenses intercepted Israeli missile attack before day break in the southern province of Daraa, causing damage.
On June 4, Israel targeted the T-4 air base in the central province of Homs.
On June 2, a total of three Syrian soldiers were killed and seven others wounded by an Israeli missile strike on military sites in the south of the country.
The Syrian government has repeatedly charged that "Israel supports the terror groups in Syria and its repeated strikes are nothing but a way to lift the rebels' morale."
Meanwhile, Israel has conducted hundreds of airstrikes in Syria throughout the eight-year conflict, most of them were against what it says the targets of Iranian-backed militia groups, such as the Lebanese Hezbollah.
Israel says it is determined to prevent Iran from entrenching itself militarily in Syria, where Teheran backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
