The Times of Israel reports: Syrian state media said early Thursday that Israel launched strikes against several targets near Damascus and claimed the country’s air defenses downed a number of missiles.

“Our air defenses confronted an Israeli attack” west of the capital, said state news agency SANA, adding that the attack was carried out from airspace in the Israeli Golan Heights. They “were able to shoot down most of the enemy missiles before they reached their targets,” SANA said.

Defense analysts routinely dismiss such claims by the Syrian regime as empty boasts. AFP correspondents in several districts of Damascus heard loud explosions around 1:15 a.m. State television broadcast images showing explosions in the sky as Syrian anti-aircraft missiles detonated in the air.

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