A close call for Israel

A Syrian surface-to-air missile fired at an Israeli Air Force fighter jet that had been involved in airstrikes on targets in Syria exploded in Israel’s southern Negev region early on Thursday.

Warning sirens went off in the region of the Bedouin village of Abu Qrenat, in the northwest Negev, the Israel Defense Forces said. Residents in the south and in Jerusalem reported hearing a loud blast, according to a report by Mako.

Iran could have been targeting Israel’s nuclear facility in Dimona, which is close to the site of the explosion.

Soon afterward, the IAF “struck the battery from which the missile was launched and additional Syrian surface-to-air batteries in the area,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement.

A Syrian military source told the Syrian Arab News Agency that the IAF struck targets in the Damascus and Golan regions, adding that Syrian air defense systems were activated. The source claimed that Syrian interceptor missiles were able to shoot down most of the Israeli missiles.