Smoke rises past a mountain as seen from Damascus countryside on 25 December Smoke rises past a mountain as seen from Damascus countryside on 25 December 

Israel strikes weapons depot in Syria

Today both Syria and Russia have accused Israel of attacking sites near the Syrian capital, Damascus.

By Nathan Morley

Overnight, Syrian state radio reported that Israel had attacked sites near Damascus, striking an arms warehouse and injuring several soldiers.

According to the radio reports, Israeli jets fired missiles from Lebanese air space. The action angered Moscow, which claimed the strikes endangered two civilian flights that were landing in Damascus and Beirut.

“Provocative acts by the Israeli Air Force endangered two passenger jets when six of their F-16s carried out air-strikes on Syria from Lebanese airspace,” a spokesman from the Russian Defence Ministry was quoted as saying,.

Soon after, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed that its air defence systems had responded to an ‘anti-aircraft missile launched from Syria’.

In a separate development, it’s reported that Gulf nations are preparing to readmit Syria into the Arab League. The country was expelled eight years ago, at the start of the civil war in the country.

Listen to Nathan Morley's report

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26 December 2018, 15:05