Israeli aiplanes attack Syria, first time after Trump announced withdrawal

Missiles above Daamscuis (Photo AP/Al Jazeera)

Syrian state media says government air defences have intercepted missiles fired by Israeli fighter jets near the capital, Damascus.

The reported raid on Tuesday hit an arms depot and wounded three soldiers, Syria's state-run news agency SANA quoted an unnamed military official as saying.

"Our air defences confronted hostile missiles launched by Israeli warplanes from above the Lebanese territories and downed most of them before reaching their targets," the military source said.

Russia's Defense Ministry said Wednesday that the airstrike in Syria attributed to Israel "directly endangered" two civilian flights. The ministry also said Syrian air defenses destroyed 14 out of 16 Israeli missiles. 
 Israel has in the past carried out dozens of air raids in neighbouring Syria against what it says are Iranian targets, many of them south of Damascus.
At the end of November, Syria said its air defences had targeted and downed a number of "hostile targets" over the Kisweh area south of the capital.
Tuesday's reported attack near Damascus is the first since US President Donald Trump announced last week that Washington will withdraw all of its 2,000 forces in Syria.
Following Trump's surprise announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel would "continue to act against Iran's attempts to entrench itself militarily in Syria, and to the extent necessary, we will even expand our actions there".