Missile Launched From Syria Toward Israel Explodes Mid-air

Israeli previous strike on Syria (File- Reuters)
Israeli previous strike on Syria (File- Reuters)
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Missile Launched From Syria Toward Israel Explodes Mid-air

Israeli previous strike on Syria (File- Reuters)
Israeli previous strike on Syria (File- Reuters)

The Israeli army said early Sunday that a missile was launched from Syrian territory towards Israel. The army clarified in a statement carried by Reuters that the anti-aircraft missile exploded mid-air.

Israeli military spokesman also said Israeli warplanes targeted a Syrian air defense battery from which an anti-aircraft missile was launched. He said the warplanes also attacked other targets in the area, while no casualties were reported from the Syrian missile.

Syrian state media SANA earlier said the country's air defenses intercepted an Israeli missile strike across central parts of the country and downed most of the missiles.

Quoting an army statement, the Syrian Arab News Agency said missiles that flew over parts of Lebanon’s capital Beirut hit locations in the vicinity of the city of Homs, resulting only in material damage.

Israel has in recent months intensified strikes on Syrian airports and air bases to disrupt Iran’s increasing use of aerial supply lines to deliver arms to allies in Syria and Lebanon, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah



Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Syrian Youth Will Resist Incoming Government

A defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024 (issued 22 December 2024). (EPA)
A defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024 (issued 22 December 2024). (EPA)
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Syrian Youth Will Resist Incoming Government

A defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024 (issued 22 December 2024). (EPA)
A defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024 (issued 22 December 2024). (EPA)

Iran's supreme leader on Sunday said that young Syrians will resist the new government emerging after the overthrow of President Bashar sl-Assad as he again accused the United States and Israel of sowing chaos in the country.

Iran had provided crucial support to Assad throughout Syria's nearly 14-year civil war, which erupted after he launched a violent crackdown on a popular uprising against his family's decades-long rule. Syria had long served as a key conduit for Iranian aid to Lebanon's armed group Hezbollah.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said in an address on Sunday that the “young Syrian has nothing to lose" and suffers from insecurity following Assad's fall.

“What can he do? He should stand with strong will against those who designed and those who implemented the insecurity," Khamenei said. “God willing, he will overcome them.”

He accused the United States and Israel of plotting against Assad's government in order to seize resources, saying: “Now they feel victory, the Americans, the Zionist regime and those who accompanied them.”

Iran and its armed proxies in the region have suffered a series of major setbacks over the past year, with Israel battering Hamas in Gaza and landing heavy blows on Hezbollah before they agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon last month.

Khamenei denied that such groups were proxies of Iran, saying they fought because of their own beliefs and that Tehran did not depend on them. “If one day we plan to take action, we do not need proxy force,” he said.