Amman: A massive blast near Damascus International Airport early on Thursday was caused by an Israeli air strike on warehouses and fuel tanks operated by a Syrian government ally.

Israeli Intelligence Minister Israel Katz, speaking from the United States, where he has been meeting US officials, told Israeli Army Radio: "I can confirm that the incident in Syria corresponds completely with Israel's policy to act to prevent Iran's smuggling of advanced weapons via Syria to Hezbollah in Iran. Naturally, I don't want to elaborate on this."

Image taken from video purporting to show the moment an explosion rocked Damascus on Thursday. Credit:Screenshot/GMC/

"The Prime Minister has said that whenever we receive intelligence that indicated an intention to transfer advanced weapons to Hezbollah, we will act."

An Israeli military spokeswoman declined to comment. Syrian state TV said Syrian military positions were hit by the Israeli missiles.</s>Image copyright AFP Image caption A photo taken from a rebel-held town showed what appeared to be a blaze at Damascus airport

An Israeli missile strike has caused a large explosion and fire at a military site near Damascus international airport, Syrian state media report.

A fuel tank and warehouses were damaged, the Sana news agency said.

But Syrian rebel sources said an arms depot run by Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, which is fighting in Syria as an ally of the government, was hit.

Israel said the explosion was "consistent" with its policy to prevent Iran smuggling weapons to Hezbollah.

But it stopped short of confirming it was responsible.

Israel regards Hezbollah, and its key backer Iran, as its biggest threat. It went to war with Hezbollah in 2006 and the group has grown considerably more powerful since then.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, reported that the powerful blast was heard across the capital at dawn on Thursday and that it was believed to have happened near the main road that leads to the airport.

Sana said several missiles had been fired at a military site south-west of the airport, causing explosions that resulted in some material losses.

Pro-government Al-Mayadeen TV cited sources as saying that missiles had been fired by Israeli jets flying inside the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Two senior rebel sources based in Damascus told Reuters news agency that the missiles had hit an ammunition depot in a closed military area that was used by Iran-backed militias operating alongside the Syrian army, led by Hezbollah.

Appearing to confirm Israeli involvement, Intelligence Minister Israel Katz told Israeli Army Radio: "I can confirm that the incident in Syria corresponds completely with Israel's policy to act to prevent Iran's smuggling of advanced weapons via Syria to Hezbollah in Iran. Naturally, I don't want to elaborate on this."

"The prime minister has said that whenever we receive intelligence that indicated an intention to transfer advanced weapons to Hezbollah, we will act."

The Israeli military declined to comment on the reports.

Israel's tacit understanding with Russia, by Jonathan Marcus, diplomatic correspondent, BBC News

Image copyright AFP

In the wake of the US cruise missile attack on a Syrian air base at the start of this month, there was a lot of talk about Russia and Syria strengthening their air defences and the likely implications of this for Israel.

Would it hamper the Israeli Air Force's freedom of action in the skies over Syria, where it has been conducting an intermittent air campaign to prevent sophisticated weapons transfers to the Lebanese Shia militia group Hezbollah?

Well, Thursday's attack near Damascus airport seems to provide an answer. Israel - which is widely seen as being behind the strike - clearly intends to continue its campaign against Hezbollah weapons shipments and one must assume that it has a tacit understanding with Moscow.

Sophisticated Russian air defences cover much of Syrian airspace and have a more than adequate capability to interfere with Israeli attacks if Moscow so wished.

Israel is thought to have bombed arms shipments intended for Hezbollah several times since the Syrian conflict began.

In a rare step last month, the Israeli military confirmed that its jets had struck several targets inside Syria in a raid that prompted the Syrian military to fire a number of ground-to-air missiles, one of which was intercepted over Israeli territory.

On Wednesday, a high-ranking Israeli military officer briefed reporters that approximately 100 missiles intended for Hezbollah had been destroyed in the raid.

Recent suspected Israeli attacks in Syria

23 April 2017: Alleged Israeli attack on a training camp used by militia in Syria's Golan Heights region, kills three members of the Syrian pro-government National Defence Forces, according to the group. The Israeli military said it was not familiar with the incident.

17 March 2017: The Israeli military says its aircraft attacked several targets in Syria and shot down a Syrian missile.

22 February 2017: Israeli aircraft reportedly bomb several Syrian air bases near Damascus, including a Hezbollah convoy travelling with the Syrian army.

12 January 2017: The Syrian government accuses Israel of firing several rockets on the Mezzeh air base from the Sea of Galilee.

30 November 2016: Israeli aircraft fire missiles on the Syrian town of Saboura, west of Damascus, according to Syrian military sources.

18 January 2015: Six Hezbollah fighters and several Iranian soldiers, including a general, die in suspected Israeli air strikes in Syria's Golan Heights region.

19 December 2015: Suspected Israeli missiles hit Jaramana district of Damascus, killing nine Hezbollah fighters, including leading figure Samir Qantar.</s>The Latest on Syria (all times local):

Syria's state media is reporting that Israel has attacked a military installation near the Damascus International Airport.

SANA says Israel fired several missiles from inside the occupied Golan Heights south of the capital at a military installation near the capital's main airport, triggering several explosions and causing damage.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Residents reported feeling the blasts shortly before 4 a.m.

Israel's intelligence minister says a large explosion near the Damascus airport is in line with Israeli policy but stopped short of taking responsibility for it.

Yisrael Katz wouldn't comment directly on the strike Thursday morning but said "it absolutely matches our declared policy, a policy that we also implement."

Israel has repeatedly warned against "game-changing" weapons reaching Hezbollah from Syria, which along with Iran supports the militant group. Hezbollah fired more than 4,000 rockets on Israel in the 2006 war.

The explosion was heard across the Syrian capital, jolting residents awake, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdurrahman said.

Israel has been largely unaffected by the Syrian civil war. It has also carried out a number of airstrikes on suspected weapon convoys it believed were destined for Hezbollah.

Syrian opposition activists and a monitor say a large explosion has rocked the Syrian capital, followed by a fire near Damascus airport.

The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdurrahman says the explosion early Thursday has been heard across the capital, jolting residents awake. He says the explosion is reported to have occurred near the Damascus airport road.

The dawn explosion has also been reported by other activists' networks but the source was unclear.

Activist-operated Diary of a Mortar, which reports from Damascus, says the explosion near the airport road was followed by flames rising above the area. A pro-government site Damascus Now says the explosion was near the city's Seventh Bridge, which leads to the airport road.</s>DAMASCUS: Syria accused Israel of triggering a huge explosion near Damascus airport on Thursday (Apr 27) by firing several missiles at a military position.

Israel has carried out multiple air strikes in Syria since the country's civil war erupted in 2011, most of which it has said targeted arms convoys or warehouses of its Lebanese arch-foe Hezbollah, which is a close ally of the Syrian regime.

In line with its usual practice, Israel's military declined to comment on the latest blast.

Israeli Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz said it was consistent with his government's policy to prevent arms transfers to Hezbollah, but stopped short of confirming his country was behind any attack.

Syria's state news agency SANA said several Israeli missiles hit near the airport causing material damage.

"A military position southwest of Damascus International Airport was targeted at dawn today by an Israeli aggression using several missiles fired from occupied territory, sparking explosions in the area," SANA said, citing a military source.

In the terminology of the Syrian government, occupied territory can refer to Israel inside its internationally recognised borders. The source did not specify whether the military position belonged to the Syrian army or one its allies.

Earlier, Damascus ally Hezbollah said the blast was "probably" the result of an Israeli air strike.

The Lebanese militant group's Al-Manar television said the raid hit a warehouse and fuel tanks, without specifying whether they were its own or belonged to the Syrian army or another of its allies.

Al-Manar said preliminary reports suggested the blast caused only material damage and no casualties. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said the warehouse was largely empty and "probably" belonged to Hezbollah.

A resident of the Dawwar al-Baytara neighbourhood in the southeast of the capital, who lives in a tower block that looks towards the airport area, said he had seen an immense fireball.

"Around 4am (0100 GMT), I heard an enormous explosion," Maytham, 47, told AFP. "I ran to the balcony and looking towards the south, in the direction of the airport, I saw a huge fireball," he said.



"There was a power cut and it was pitch black, and the fireball was clearly visible."



The Israeli intelligence minister said the blast was in line with his government's policy of preventing advanced weaponry from reaching Hezbollah.

"We are acting to prevent the transfer of sophisticated weapons from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon by Iran," Katz told army radio.



"When we receive serious information about the intention to transfer weapons to Hezbollah, we will act. This incident is totally consistent with this policy."



Israeli warplanes have hit the airport and other bases around the capital in the past, targeting what it said were weapons stockpiles destined for Hezbollah.



The airport lies about 25 kilometres (15 miles) southeast of the city centre. It was hit by Israeli air strikes in December 2014, Syrian state media reported at the time.



Israel does not usually confirm or deny each individual raid it carries out. But last month, it said it had carried out several strikes near the Syrian desert city of Palmyra, targeting what it said were "advanced weapons" belonging to Hezbollah.



The strikes prompted Syria to launch ground to air missiles, one of which was intercepted over Israeli territory in the most serious flare-up between the two neighbours since the Syrian civil war began six years ago.



Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed those strikes and vowed there would more if necessary.



On Jan 13, Syria accused Israel of bombing Mazzeh airbase in the western suburbs of the capital. There were several strikes near the same base last year.



Israel and Syria are still technically at war, though the armistice line had remained largely quiet for decades until 2011 when the Syrian conflict began.



Israel and Hezbollah fought a 34-day war in 2006 which killed 1,200 people in Lebanon, mainly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.</s>BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on Syria (all times local):

Israel’s intelligence minister says a large explosion near the Damascus airport is in line with Israeli policy but stopped short of taking responsibility for it.

Yisrael Katz wouldn’t comment directly on the strike Thursday morning but said “it absolutely matches our declared policy, a policy that we also implement.”

Israel has repeatedly warned against “game-changing” weapons reaching Hezbollah from Syria, which along with Iran supports the militant group. Hezbollah fired more than 4,000 rockets on Israel in the 2006 war.

The explosion was heard across the Syrian capital, jolting residents awake, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdurrahman said.

Israel has been largely unaffected by the Syrian civil war. It has also carried out a number of airstrikes on suspected weapon convoys it believed were destined for Hezbollah.

Syrian opposition activists and a monitor say a large explosion has rocked the Syrian capital, followed by a fire near Damascus airport.

The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdurrahman says the explosion early Thursday has been heard across the capital, jolting residents awake. He says the explosion is reported to have occurred near the Damascus airport road.

The dawn explosion has also been reported by other activists’ networks but the source was unclear.

Activist-operated Diary of a Mortar, which reports from Damascus, says the explosion near the airport road was followed by flames rising above the area. A pro-government site Damascus Now says the explosion was near the city’s Seventh Bridge, which leads to the airport road.</s>It’s another in a series of attacks whose aftermath has solidified into a routine diplomatic dance.

Syria’s army accused Israel of “launching several missiles from inside the occupied territories at dawn on Thursday,” which struck a “military position” near Damascus International Airport, according to an unnamed military source speaking to Syrian state media.

The attack, said the source, resulted in explosions and left “some material losses.”

“The Israeli aggression comes as a desperate attempt to raise the collapsed morale of terrorist groups due to the Syrian army’s blows,” continued the source, using the government’s routine term for the rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad.

“This aggression will not dissuade the army from continuing the war against terrorism and crushing it.”

According to a report by the pro-opposition watchdog Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the blast from the strikes “could be heard all through Damascus and its suburbs,” and fire was seen rising near the airport.

The observatory group said sources thought the large explosion had occurred because ammunition depots, believed to be for the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, had been targeted.

Israel, as has been customary after similar strikes in the past, neither confirmed nor denied responsibility.

But Israeli Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz, in an interview with Israel Army Radio, broadly hinted that Israel was involved.

“I can confirm that the incident in Syria is entirely consistent with the policy of Israel to operate to prevent the smuggling of advanced weapons from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon,” he said. “This is a declared policy that we are also carrying out.”

Official statements by the Syrian government did not mention if there would be any retaliation. But later on Thursday, an Israeli patriot missile shot down a drone over the Golan Heights, according to Israeli media.

The drone was said to have been launched from Syrian territories.

An agency affiliated with Hezbollah, the Central Combat Media, quoted a report from the Israeli outlet Yediot Ahronot that a Patriot missile had shot down a drone launched from Syrian territories.

According to the report, the drone had flown over parts of the occupied territories in Israel’s north.

Hezbollah is a staunch battlefield ally of Assad’s. Its cadres often have been the spearhead of ground assaults against the rebels — a development that Israel believes will make the Lebanese Shiite group a hardier adversary in a potential future conflict.

Israel has been carrying out strikes in Syria throughout the civil war to block the transfer of what has been described as game-changing weapons to Hezbollah.

Thursday’s attack comes after Russia, Iran and other pro-government allied forces had vowed to respond forcefully to any “aggression … by anyone” in the wake of a U.S. cruise missile strike on Syria earlier this month. They added they would increase support to the Syrian army in “a number of ways.”

Yet despite Moscow’s condemnation in the aftermath of the attack, it was unclear whether it had been aware of the strike. Russia has provided Damascus with sophisticated air defense systems that presumably could deter such attacks from Israel.

Special correspondents Bulos reported from Beirut and Mitnick from Tel Aviv.

11:10 a.m.: This article was updated with new details that Israel shot down a drone over the Golan Heights.

This article was originally published at 10:25 a.m.</s>The Latest on Syria (all times local):

Britain's foreign secretary says Britain could join the United States in further military action against Syria if asked to do so.

Boris Johnson said Thursday it would be "very difficult to say no" if the U.S. seeks British help on a military mission against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

He did not specify whether Parliament would be asked to approve any military action ahead of time. He said that decision would be up to the government and Prime Minister Theresa May.

President Donald Trump ordered a cruise missile attack against a Syrian air base earlier this month in response to Assad's apparent use of chemical weapons against Syrians.

U.S. officials have said further attacks are likely if Assad uses banned chemical weapons again

Syria's state media is reporting that Israel has attacked a military installation near the Damascus International Airport.

SANA says Israel fired several missiles from inside the occupied Golan Heights south of the capital at a military installation near the capital's main airport, triggering several explosions and causing damage.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Residents reported feeling the blasts shortly before 4 a.m.

Israel's intelligence minister says a large explosion near the Damascus airport is in line with Israeli policy but stopped short of taking responsibility for it.

Yisrael Katz wouldn't comment directly on the strike Thursday morning but said "it absolutely matches our declared policy, a policy that we also implement."

Israel has repeatedly warned against "game-changing" weapons reaching Hezbollah from Syria, which along with Iran supports the militant group. Hezbollah fired more than 4,000 rockets on Israel in the 2006 war.

The explosion was heard across the Syrian capital, jolting residents awake, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdurrahman said.

Israel has been largely unaffected by the Syrian civil war. It has also carried out a number of airstrikes on suspected weapon convoys it believed were destined for Hezbollah.

Syrian opposition activists and a monitor say a large explosion has rocked the Syrian capital, followed by a fire near Damascus airport.

The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdurrahman says the explosion early Thursday has been heard across the capital, jolting residents awake. He says the explosion is reported to have occurred near the Damascus airport road.

The dawn explosion has also been reported by other activists' networks but the source was unclear.

Activist-operated Diary of a Mortar, which reports from Damascus, says the explosion near the airport road was followed by flames rising above the area. A pro-government site Damascus Now says the explosion was near the city's Seventh Bridge, which leads to the airport road.</s>BEIRUT (AP) — The latest on Syria (all times local):

Russia has denounced what it called "aggression" against Syria in the wake of an apparent Israeli missile attack on a Syrian military installation near Damascus International Airport.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova did not directly blame Israel for the Thursday morning explosion, but cited Syrian media as saying Israel was responsible.

She says "Moscow condemns acts of aggression against Syria" and calls on everyone to "act within the framework of respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria."

Israel appears to be striking at military convoys and installations in Syria at a quickening pace, maintaining it has the right to prevent the transfer of weapons to Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group that fights alongside Syrian government forces.

Syrian activists say airstrikes across the opposition-held Idlib province have killed at least 19 people, with some targeting ambulances and medical centers.

The Civil Defense, a search-and-rescue organization, says four medical staff were killed in an attack on a university hospital in Deir Sharqi, and another four paramedics or ambulance operators were killed in a strike on an ambulance services charity in Maarzita.

The activist-run Idlib Media Center said another four people were killed by barrel bombs dropped on the town of Khan Sheikhoun, the site of a chemical attack earlier this month.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 19 civilians, including nine children, were killed around the northern province on Thursday. The Civil Defense reported the same overall death toll.

The activists believe Russia or the Syrian government launched the raids. The U.S. is also known to strike at positions in Idlib province, where it targets al-Qaida-affiliated fighters.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians displaced by the war have sought refuge in the rural province, which is now largely under the control of hard-line rebel groups. It borders Turkey to the north.

Syria's government has condemned what it says are "lies and fabricated allegations" by the French foreign minister concerning a deadly chemical weapons attack in Syria earlier this month.

Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said that the chemical analysis of samples taken from the April 4 sarin gas attack "bears the signature" of President Bashar Assad's government and shows it was responsible.

In a statement issued Thursday, the Syrian foreign ministry said Ayrault's remarks show "France's involvement in masterminding this crime."

It also said France was not suited and had no legal authority to determine what happened in Khan Sheikhoun, the rebel-held town where the incident occurred.

Britain's foreign secretary says Britain could join the United States in further military action against Syria if asked to do so.

Boris Johnson said Thursday it would be "very difficult to say no" if the U.S. seeks British help on a military mission against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

He did not specify whether Parliament would be asked to approve any military action ahead of time. He said that decision would be up to the government and Prime Minister Theresa May.

President Donald Trump ordered a cruise missile attack against a Syrian air base earlier this month in response to Assad's apparent use of chemical weapons against Syrians.

U.S. officials have said further attacks are likely if Assad uses banned chemical weapons again

Syria's state media is reporting that Israel has attacked a military installation near the Damascus International Airport.

SANA says Israel fired several missiles from inside the occupied Golan Heights south of the capital at a military installation near the capital's main airport, triggering several explosions and causing damage.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Residents reported feeling the blasts shortly before 4 a.m.

Israel's intelligence minister says a large explosion near the Damascus airport is in line with Israeli policy but stopped short of taking responsibility for it.

Yisrael Katz wouldn't comment directly on the strike Thursday morning but said "it absolutely matches our declared policy, a policy that we also implement."

Israel has repeatedly warned against "game-changing" weapons reaching Hezbollah from Syria, which along with Iran supports the militant group. Hezbollah fired more than 4,000 rockets on Israel in the 2006 war.

The explosion was heard across the Syrian capital, jolting residents awake, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdurrahman said.

Israel has been largely unaffected by the Syrian civil war. It has also carried out a number of airstrikes on suspected weapon convoys it believed were destined for Hezbollah.

Syrian opposition activists and a monitor say a large explosion has rocked the Syrian capital, followed by a fire near Damascus airport.

The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdurrahman says the explosion early Thursday has been heard across the capital, jolting residents awake. He says the explosion is reported to have occurred near the Damascus airport road.

The dawn explosion has also been reported by other activists' networks but the source was unclear.

Activist-operated Diary of a Mortar, which reports from Damascus, says the explosion near the airport road was followed by flames rising above the area. A pro-government site Damascus Now says the explosion was near the city's Seventh Bridge, which leads to the airport road.</s>BEIRUT (AFP) - A massive explosion struck near Damascus International Airport early on Thursday (April 27) setting off large fires, a monitoring group said, without specifying the cause.

The blast was outside the airport itself. It was not immediately clear whether it was the result of an air strike or a ground attack, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Israeli warplanes have hit the airport and other bases around the capital in the past, targeting what it said were weapons stockpiles of its Lebanese foe Hezbollah, which is allied with the Syrian government.

Hezbollah's Al-Manar television said the explosion was "probably" caused by an Israeli air strike.

"The blast was huge," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. "It's unclear what caused the explosion but there are fires raging at the site." Al-Manar said the strike caused only material damage.

"Al-Manar's correspondent reported that an explosion struck at dawn on Thursday in fuel tanks and a warehouse near Damascus International Airport and that it was probably the result of an Israeli strike," the channel said.

The airport lies about 25km south-east of the capital.

It was hit by Israeli air strikes in December 2014, Syrian state media reported at the time.

Israel does not usually confirm or deny each individual raid it carries out.

But last month, it said it had carried out several strikes near the Syrian desert city of Palmyra, targeting what it said were "advanced weapons" belonging to Hezbollah.

The strikes prompted Syria to launch retaliatory ground to air missiles, one of which was intercepted over Israeli territory in the most serious flare-up between the two neighbours since the Syrian civil war began six years ago.

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman threatened to destroy Syrian air defence systems if they were used again.

On Jan 13, Syria accused Israel of bombing Mazzeh air base in the western suburbs of the capital. There were several strikes near the same base last year.

In April 2016, Netanyahu admitted for the first time that Israel had attacked dozens of convoys in Syria that he said were transporting weapons destined for Hezbollah.

Israel and Syria are still technically at war, though the armistice line had remained largely quiet for decades until 2011 when the Syrian conflict began.

Israel and Hezbollah fought a devastating 34-day war in 2006 which killed 1,200 people in Lebanon, mainly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.</s>A large explosion hit in the area of Damascus International Airport followed by a fire in the same place early on Thursday the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said. WASHINGTON President Donald Trump has given the military the authority to reset a confusing system of troop limits in Iraq and Syria that critics said allowed the White House to micro-manage battlefield decisions and ultimately obscured the real number of U.S. forces.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Reuters.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports a large explosion near Damascus International Airport followed by a fire. The Syrian government says Israel struck the military site with several missiles. Israeli Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz states that the strike "corresponds completely with Israel's policy".