Israel retaliates after Syrian anti-aircraft fire

Jerusalem: Israel says it has carried out an attack on Syrian military following the launch of an anti-aircraft missile against the country, which triggered alarms around the West Bank and exploded in mid air. 

Syrian media reported that the missile was launched as part of a strike against Damascus. A military spokesperson declined to comment on the Syrian report of an initial Israeli attack near the Syrian capital which reportedly killed one soldier and injured five.

Air defences around Damascus were activated as Isreal launched attacks early on Wednesday. There were reports of rocket warning sirens in northern Israel as the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) carried out strikes against Syria.

"Following the anti-aircraft missile launch earlier tonight, the Israel Defense Forces attacked surface-to-air missile batteries and radar that fired at Israeli air force planes," the military said on Twitter.

Syrian state TV said earlier that Syrian air defences had downed a number of Israeli missiles over Damascus. Israel launched surface-to-surface missiles from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syrian air defences shot down some of them, Syrian state TV said.

Israel has mounted frequent attacks against what it says are Iranian targets in Syria, where Tehran-backed forces led by Lebanon's Hezbollah have supported President Bashar al-Assad over the past decade in Syria's civil war.

"Israeli aggression" also carried out an air strike earlier on Wednesday with missiles from southeast of Lebanon's capital Beirut, state TV added, according to a Reuters report.