Israel strikes hit near Damascus — Syrian state media

DAMASCUS — Israel carried out air strikes near Damascus early Wednesday, wounding a Syrian soldier, state news agency SANA said.

During more than a decade of war in Syria, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on its territory, primarily targeting Iran-backed forces and Lebanese Hizbollah fighters as well as Syrian army positions.

Explosions were heard in the Syrian capital early Wednesday, an AFP correspondent reported.

"At around 01:05 am [22:05 GMT], the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial aggression from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights targeting several positions southwest of Damascus," SANA cited a military source as saying.

The source did not provide details on the targets and said the strikes "severely wounded" a soldier and caused material damage.

Syria's air defence intercepted some of the Israeli missiles, the source added.

The Israeli strikes targeted "arms depots belonging to pro-Iran fighters, and caused a fire," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor that relies on a vast network of sources on the ground.