Two rockets were fired early Tuesday morning at Israel from Lebanon, one was intercepted by the Iron Dome system—suggesting it was targeting a civilian population—and the other landed in an open area. IDF artillery forces attacked Lebanese territory in response. At this time, the Israeli defense establishment would not say who is responsible for the shooting and to what extent Hezbollah is involved. The shooting took place hours ahead of a scheduled visit of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in the northern town of Maalot, together with Communications Minister Yoaz Handel.
Earlier, the official Syrian news agency SANA reported that “the army air defenses confronted an Israeli missile aggression on a number of posts in the surrounding of Assfayra region in Aleppo countryside, downing most of the hostile missiles. A military source said that at 23:37 (11:37 PM) on Monday, July 19th, the Israeli enemy launched an air aggression on Aleppo south-eastern countryside, targeting some posts in the Assfayra region. The army air defenses confronted the missiles and shot down most of them.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed that the Israeli strikes targeted “the area of Jabal al-Waha, near the scientific research center and the Syrian regime’s defense factories in al-Sferah area in Aleppo countryside. It is worth noting that the targeted site hosts an Iranian base and weapons warehouses which were destroyed in the Israeli attack. However, no casualties have been reported so far.”
The Observatory noted that “these strikes are the first after the departure of ‘Netanyahu’ the former prime minister of Israel. (No idea why the quotes around his name – DI).”
On June 9, the Observatory reported the death of 11 Syrian soldiers and Iran-affiliated militiamen, including a brigadier general, “due to Israeli attacks on the scientific research center in Kharbat al-Tinah and other military posts and positions in the area in the west Homs countryside. The strikes also targeted an ammunition warehouse belonging to the Lebanese Hezbollah, south of Homs city.”
The last time rockets were fired from Lebanon at Israel was during Operation Guardian of the Walls in May, and the IDF responded by firing 16 shells at the source. Back then it was estimated that the shooting was carried out by Palestinian elements and not by Hezbollah.
Here’s SANA’s video, the explosion is at 0:12.