Israel hits targets in Syria and intercepts SAM missile

It was the first operational launch of the Arrow system

Israeli fighter jets launched three raids targeting Lebanese militia Hezbollah in Syria overnight.

The aircraft also carried out several other strikes. Syria reacted by launching a small number of ground-to-air missiles. The IDF intercepted one of them with the first official Arrow launch in operational conditions.

“Overnight… aircraft targeted several targets in Syria”, an Israeli army statement said. “Several anti-aircraft missiles were launched from Syria following the mission and (army) aerial defense systems intercepted one of the missiles”. The IDF added that the safety of Israeli civilians and the safety of the Israeli aircraft “were not compromised”.

Israel is widely believed to have carried out a number of airstrikes on advanced weapons systems in Syria, including Russian-made anti-aircraft missiles and Iranian-made missiles, as well as Hezbollah positions.