Syria Reports Israeli Missile Attack Near Golan Heights

A general view of the mountains in the Golan Heights | Photo: AFP
A general view of the mountains in the Golan Heights | Photo: AFP
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Syria Reports Israeli Missile Attack Near Golan Heights

A general view of the mountains in the Golan Heights | Photo: AFP
A general view of the mountains in the Golan Heights | Photo: AFP

Israel fired several surface-to-surface missiles toward Syrian military positions in the country´s south early Wednesday causing material damage, state media reported.

State TV quoted an unnamed Syrian military official as saying that the missiles were fired from Syria´s Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and struck areas around the nearby town of Quneitra.

It added that the attack that occurred shortly after midnight caused material damage but no casualties, according to The Associated Press.

The attack came nearly a week after Syrian state media reported a similar Israeli missile attack on an area south of the capital Damascus that also caused no casualties.

Israel did not comment on the attack. It has made hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria over the past decade of its civil war, but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations.

Israel has acknowledged, however, that it targets bases of Iran-allied militias, such as Lebanon´s Hezbollah that fights on the side of Syrian President Bashar Assad´s forces.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed the area. Most of the world does not recognize the annexation, though the Trump administration declared the territory to be part of Israel.



Syria’s New Foreign Minister Tells Iran Not to Spread Chaos in Syria

A Syrian boy walks past a defaced portrait of the toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in the town of Yafour near Damascus on December 23, 2024. (AFP)
A Syrian boy walks past a defaced portrait of the toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in the town of Yafour near Damascus on December 23, 2024. (AFP)
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Syria’s New Foreign Minister Tells Iran Not to Spread Chaos in Syria

A Syrian boy walks past a defaced portrait of the toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in the town of Yafour near Damascus on December 23, 2024. (AFP)
A Syrian boy walks past a defaced portrait of the toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in the town of Yafour near Damascus on December 23, 2024. (AFP)

Syria's newly appointed foreign minister, Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, told Iran on Tuesday not to spread chaos in Syria but to respect the Syrian people's will and the country's sovereignty.

In a post on X, Shibani said: "Iran must respect the will of the Syrian people and the country's sovereignty and security. We warn them from spreading chaos in Syria and we hold them accountable for the repercussions of the latest remarks."

He did not specify the remarks he was referring to.

In a televised speech on Sunday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called on Syrian youth to "stand with firm determination against those who have orchestrated and brought about this insecurity".

"We predict that a strong and honorable group will also emerge in Syria because today Syrian youth have nothing to lose. Their schools, universities, homes, and streets are unsafe," Khamenei said.

He added: "Therefore, they must stand firmly with determination against the planners and executors of insecurity and prevail over them."

Syrian opposition fighters ousted President Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8 after a 13-year civil war.

Iran spent billions of dollars propping up Assad during the war and deployed its Revolutionary Guards to Syria to keep its ally in power.

Assad's overthrow is widely seen as a major blow to the Iran-led "Axis of Resistance" political and military alliance that opposes Israeli and US influence in the Middle East.