Regular Israeli Attacks on Syria Only Possible Due to US Backing

In a statement published on Saturday, the foreign ministry said it had dispatched letters to the secretary general of the United Nations and the head of the UN Security Council (UNSC) in connection with Friday night's unprovoked attack on Damascus, Sputnik reported.

"This treacherous aggression fits within the framework of Israel's attempts to prolong the crisis and the war against the terrorists in Syria, and to raise the morale of the remnants of the terrorist groups acting as its agents," an excerpt from the letter read.

"Furthermore, this is another attempt by the Israeli government to avoid addressing pressing domestic problems," the letter added.

According to the Syrian foreign ministry, Israel's continued aggression is possible only thanks to the "military, political and media cover provided by the US administration".

Earlier, Syrian media reported that Israeli jets had fired multiple missiles at Damascus on Friday night, adding that most of the missiles were shot down before reaching their targets.

On Saturday, a military source said that the Damascus International Airport had been targeted in the attack, and that a warehouse at the airport had been damaged. Later, a ministry of transport source added that traffic at the airport was not affected by the strikes.

Syrian media published multiple videos showing enemy missiles being shot down.

The sounds of blasts were first heard in the Syrian capital around 11:30 pm local time, and continued into the early hours of Saturday morning.

Friday night's airstrikes were the first since an Israeli attack on Christmas Day which destroyed an ammunition depot outside Damascus and wounded three Syrian soldiers. In that strike, Syrian air defence forces reported having destroyed most of the incoming missiles, which were said to have been launched from Lebanese air space.

The Russian defense ministry slammed Israel over the 25 December attack, saying it put two civilian airliners in the area at risk.

Lebanon's transport ministry, in turn, also stated that two civilian aircraft operating in Lebanese airspace had "miraculously" avoided being impacted by the Israeli strike.

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