SYRIA: Israeli Fires Missiles At Damascus Airport

Israel's Minister of Intelligence said the strike was consistent with policy regarding the transfer of weapons

The Kremlin on Thursday called for restraint after Syria accused Israel of firing several missiles at a military position near the Damascus airport.

"We continue to consider that all countries need to refrain from any kind of actions that lead to an increase in tension in this already restive region and call for respect of the sovereignty of Syria," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Russia, which has deployed its forces to back up the Syrian regime, has a hotline set up to avoid clashes with Israeli jets in the skies over the war-torn country.

Peskov did not confirm if Israel had warned Moscow of the strike, saying only that the two nations' "defence ministries are in constant dialogue".

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova later went further than the Kremlin and slammed the alleged Israeli strikes.

"Gross violations of Syrian sovereignty -- no matter how they are justified are unacceptable," she said in a televised briefing.

"Moscow condemns acts of aggression against Syria."

In line with its usual practice, Israel's military declined to comment on the latest blast, which saw a huge explosion near Damascus.

Syrian state media earlier on Thursday accused Israel of carrying out the huge blast which struck near Damascus airport in the early morning hours.

"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," the SANA news agency said, citing a military source.

Earlier, Israel's Minister of Intelligence Israel Katz seemed to hint that this could be the case, telling Army Radio that the strike was consistent with Israeli policy regarding the transfer of weapons to Hezbollah.

There was an explosion at weapons and fuel depots belonging to Assad regime forces and Iranian-linked militia, the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar news network reported. There were no reports of any injuries.

Reports circulating in Arab media claimed that the Israeli air force hit the location five times at around 5am local time, targeting weapons that were arriving for Iranian-backed militant groups.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based monitoring group, the explosions caused a fire.

"The blast was huge and could be heard in Damascus," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the group.

The Damascus International Airport lies about 25 kilometers southeast of Syria's capital.

The Observatory, which gathers information from sources across war-ravaged Syria, said it had confirmed the explosion had not taken place inside the airport itself.

"It's unclear what caused the explosion, but there fires raging at the site," Abdel Rahman said.

In January a series of explosions ripped through the al-Mazzeh military airport on the western outskirts of Damascus. Syrian media was quick to attribute the airstrikes to the Israel Defense Forces. State news agency SANA said Israel had launched the missiles from Israeli territory north of the Sea of Galilee.

On Friday the military said that it had hit targets in Syria in response to three projectiles that landed in the Israeli Golan Heights earlier, in what the army said was likely stray fire from Syria's civil war. There were no injuries or damage.

Hezbollah Boss Mustafa Badreddin Killed In Syria

Top Hezbollah commander Mustafa Badreddine was killed in an Israeli strike in Syria this week, the Lebanese Shia group has said.

"He took part in most of the operations of the Islamic resistance since 1982," Hezbollah said in a statement on Friday, announcing his death and describing him as a "great jihadi leader".

Badreddine, 55, was one of the highest ranking officials in the group, and believed by the US government to be responsible for Hezbollah's military operations in Syria, where it is fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Mustafa Badreddine was buried in Beirut after a funeral procession in a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital.
He was killed on Tuesday night, the statement said, adding that the attack targeted one of Hezbollah's bases near Damascus airport, the group's nerve-centre in the Syrian capital.

On Friday, thousands of Hezbollah supporters carried the coffin of Badreddine, draped in a Hezbollah flag, during his funeral procession in a southern suburb of Beirut.

The group said it was working to "define the nature of the explosion and its cause, and whether it was the result of an air strike, or missile attack or artillery".

Mustafa Badreddine replaced his brother-in-law Imad Mughniyah after the Hezbollah commander was killed in a car bombing in Damascus in 2008.

Israel officially denied being behind Mughniyah's killing, but Israeli media reported at the time that the Hezbollah commander had been a target of Israeli assassination attempts since the 1990s.

Mughniyah was assassinated by Israeli intelligence agents in revenge for the 2006 Lebanon War.

Earlier on Friday, the Lebanese TV station Al Mayadeen reported that Badreddine had also been killed in an Israeli attack.

However, there was no immediate response from Israel, which has attacked Hezbollah targets in Syria several times during the country's five-year conflict.

"We decline to comment," an Israeli military spokeswoman said.

Badreddine was the highest-ranking Hezbollah commander to have been killed in Syria since the conflict began five years ago.

"Some Hezbollah sources are saying that when Imad Mughniyah was killed, he was not replaced by just one man, Badreddine, but rather by several men. Nonetheless, Badreddine was a very high-ranking figure in the organisation.

"Hezbollah has suffered heavy losses in Syria, with some sources estimating that at least 1,200 fighters have died since the group started its involvement in the war. The group is weakened and some in Lebanon are wondering what Hezbollah's exit strategy is.

"Hezbollah's military intervention in Syria caused a divide in Lebanon. Some say it was totally wrong as it exposed Lebanon to threats. However, Hezbollah sees this as an existential decision because the Syrian government provides a lifeline to the group."

Badreddine was indicted by the United Nations-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon over the 2005 killing of a former prime minister, Rafik al-Hariri, and was also sanctioned by the United States.

Badreddine was sentenced to death in Kuwait for his role in bomb attacks there in 1983. He escaped from prison in Kuwait after Iraq, under the leadership of Saddam Hussein, invaded the country in 1990.

"This is a pretty significant blow to Hezbollah ... He was extremely close to the Secretary General of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah," Levitt said.