Hezbollah affiliated Al Mayadeen on Wednesday morning reported an overnight bombardment by Israeli planes of the Mezzeh military airport south-west of the old center of Damascus, Syria. The bombardment was apparently carried out from Lebanese airspace.
According to Syrian media, “in the capital, Damascus, residents woke at about four o’clock in the morning to loud explosions and high pillars of fire and smoke inside the military Mezzeh airport near the capital, the result of what appeared to be the targeting by a missile of the Zionist military. The site experienced strong and intermittent explosions over half an hour, while fire trucks and ambulances were rushing to the scene.”
Fire at #Damascus‘ Mazzeh Military Airport following blasts: pro-#Assad outlet reports https://t.co/5odAugdjWA #Syria pic.twitter.com/zrABvjcEm9
— Albin Szakola (@AlbinSzakola) December 7, 2016
The statement added that “until this moment the Syrian military has not issued an official statement to explain what happened, but it is almost certain that what happened is the targeting by a Zionist missile of the Mezzeh military airport out of Lebanese airspace.”
Several Arab social media news sources insisted the explosions were the result of a fire in an ammunition armory on base, and not an Israeli attack.
As of the time of publication, the IDF has neither confirmed nor denied the accusations as per Israeli policy regarding all foreign reports on alleged Israeli strikes. Damascus as well has yet to confirm such a report.
Tensions on the Israeli-Syrian border have been rapidly increasing since the civil war erupted there in 2011. Though there have been several instances of alleged Israeli attacks in Syrian territory, it wasn’t until April of this year that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged that the IDF had carried out strikes in the region.
“We will not agree to the supply of advanced weaponry to Hezbollah from Syria and Lebanon,” Netanyahu said at the time. “We will not agree to the creation of a second terror front on the Golan Heights. These are the red lines that we have set and they remain the red lines of the State of Israel.”
In following up with the prime minister’s assertions, exactly one week ago the Israeli Air Force reportedly struck a weapons storage facility outside Damascus. The building supposedly housed a large load of weapons meant for the Hezbollah terrorist group which were destroyed in Israel’s offensive action.
With additional reporting by Breaking Israel News
