Beirut: Israeli jets flew very low over parts of Lebanon early on Friday, terrifying residents on Christmas Eve, some of whom reported seeing missiles in the skies over Beirut.
Minutes later, Syria’s official news agency reported explosions in the central Syrian town of Masyaf. Other Syrian media said Syrian air defences responded to an Israeli attack near the town in the Hama province.
The Syrian Ministry of Defence issued a statement saying Israel “launched an aggression by directing a barrage of rockets” from the north of the Lebanese city of Tripoli towards the Masyaf area. It said Syrian air defence “confronted the enemy missiles and intercepted most of them.”
There was no immediate word on what the target was or whether there were any casualties.
Israeli jets regularly violate Lebanese airspace and have often struck inside Syria from Lebanese territory. But the Christmas Eve flights were louder than usual, frightening residents of Beirut who have endured multiple crises in the past year, including the catastrophic August 4 explosion at the city’s port that killed over 200 people and destroyed parts of the capital.
That explosion resulted from the detonation of a stockpile of ammonium nitrates that was improperly stored at the facility.
Read the article in The Sydney Morning Herald (AP).