Five people were killed and seven injured on Friday in an Israeli air strike in Hama province in west-central Syria, according to Syrian state media.
Israel launched “bursts of missiles” from over the Mediterranean at 11:20 p.m., triggering air defense systems, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
Four members of the Syrian regime’s air-defense personnel, including a lieutenant, were among those killed, according to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a pro-opposition group which aims to document human rights abuses in Syria.
“At least eight” missiles had been launched at weapons depots and “Iranian sites” in the Masyaf area, according to SOHR.
The Alma Research and Education Center, an Israeli defense watchdog, noted that the area reportedly targeted hosts Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center, known by its French acronym, CERS.
CERS is involved in Hezbollah’s precision missile project and has been attacked before, according to Alma.
The strike is the latest in a series of attacks in Syria attributed to Israel in recent years, the most recent of which occurred on May 11, according to Israeli and Syrian media reports.
SANA reported at the time that Israeli missiles hit a target near the town of Hader in the northern Quneitra countryside at around 3 a.m., while Israel’s Kan News later reported a second strike, which it said had targeted a Syrian military observation post.
There were no reports of casualties in either strike, though SANA reported that the earlier strike caused material damage.
