Syrian air defenses thwart suspected Israeli attack on Aleppo, seven dead

Later, the broadcaster said the army downed several Israeli missiles before they reached their targets in the latest attack Syria said was conducted by Israel.

Missile fire is seen from Damascus, Syria (photo credit: OMAR SANADIKI/REUTERS)
Missile fire is seen from Damascus, Syria
(photo credit: OMAR SANADIKI/REUTERS)
Syrian air defenses thwarted an allegedly Israeli attack on Aleppo city, Syrian state television said on Friday.

The attack reportedly left seven militia men of the Iraqi Hezbollah dead, and the death toll is expected to rise due to the severity of ensuing causalities, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. 

The organization added that unidentified jets, which Syria suspects to be Israeli, struck Hezbollah targets five km away from Qallat Al-Rahbah on the outskirts of Al-Mayadeen city in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.

Later, the state television broadcaster said the army downed several Israeli missiles before they reached their targets in the latest attack Syria said was conducted by Israel.

Israeli defense officials have said in recent months Israel would step up its campaign against Iran in Syria where, with the help of its proxy militias, Tehran has expanded its presence.

A regional intelligence source said Israel was stepping up raids in Syria at a time when world attention and the region, including Syria, were distracted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Israel has acknowledged conducting many raids inside Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011.