JERUSALEM, Feb 9, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - Israel launched strikes against targets
in Syria early Wednesday, hitting anti-aircraft batteries in response to a
missile fired from Syria, the military said.

  Sirens were sounded in the northern Israeli Arab city of Umm Al-Fahm after
the Syrian missile launch but it exploded in mid-air, the Israel Defense
Forces tweeted.

  "In response to the anti-aircraft missile launched from Syria earlier
tonight, we just struck surface-to-air missile targets in Syria, including
radar & anti-aircraft batteries," the IDF said.

  Syrian state media said the country's air defences had been activated
against Israeli fire "in the vicinity of Damascus".

  Citing a military source, it said Israeli aerial attacks began shortly
before 1:00 am and were accompanied at 1:10 am by surface-to-surface missile
strikes "from the direction of the occupied Golan".

  "Our aerial defences confronted the enemy's missiles and shot some of them
down," the Syrian news agency SANA said.

  SANA said one soldier was killed and five others wounded, "along with
material damage".

  Israel rarely comments on the air strikes it carries out in Syria but has
said repeatedly it will not allow its archfoe Iran to extend its footprint in
the country.

  Since civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds
of air strikes on Syrian territory, targeting government positions as well as
allied Iran-backed forces and Hezbollah fighters.