Israeli warplanes strike targets in Syria: Army

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli warplanes at dawn Friday struck a number of targets in next-door Syria, according to the Israeli military.

In a rare confirmation, the Israeli army said in a statement that “a number” of its warplanes had struck positions inside Syrian territory.

It did not provide additional details except to say that “several anti-aircraft missiles” had been fired from Syria during the operation, one of which, it claimed, had been intercepted by Israeli air-defense systems.

Israel’s Channel Two reported that the strikes had targeted a “strategic” arms shipment bound for Lebanon's Shia Hezbollah group in northern Syria.

Since the outbreak of the Syria conflict in early 2011, the Israeli army has occasionally struck positions inside its war-ravaged neighbor, especially after shells fired from Syrian territory had reportedly fallen inside the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.