Israel’s military attacked Wednesday morning Mezzeh military airport in Damascus, in what appeared to be the second air strike by Israel inside Syrian territory in less than a week.

In an unprecedented statement, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, said: “Israel works to preserve the security of its citizens and is trying to prevent advanced weapons and military equipment and weapons of mass destruction from being smuggled from Syria to Hezbollah.”

This was the first time a high-ranking Israeli official mentioned the delivery of weapons of mass destruction to Hezbollah.

Speaking after his meeting in Tel Aviv with ambassadors from the European Union to discuss Middle Eastern affairs, Lieberman said that while Israel has no intention of intervening in the civil war in Syria, his position is that “the Iranians and Assad must be out” regardless of how the war ends.

Syrian military reports described the Israeli attack as an attempt to support terrorist groups. Syrian media reported that Israeli forces “launched a number of surface-to-surface missiles from inside the occupied territories,” calling it “a desperate attempt to support the terrorist groups and raise their low morale.”

Residents of the western neighborhoods in Damascus reported loud explosions in the Mezzeh neighborhood at around three in the morning. Later, Syrian Arab news Agency (SANA) reported that fires broke out at the airport and that emergency vehicle sirens were heard in the area.

“At 3:00 a.m., the Israeli enemy fired several surface-to-surface missiles from inside occupied territory,” SANA said, citing a military source. The report said the Israeli missiles caused a large fire but no injuries or deaths.
According to the news, the Israeli military used missiles ground-ground launched from mount Avital located on Israeli territory in the Golan Heights.

Earlier this week, SANA reported that Israel targeted the Sabboura area without mentioning the target of the attack. “In an attempt to divert attention from the successes achieved by the Syrian Arab army and to raise the deteriorating morals of the terrorist gangs, warplanes of the Israeli enemy launched two rockets on Damascus countryside at dawn on Wednesday,” SANA cited a military source last week.

Media sources reported that the Israeli warplanes raided sites of the fourth troop and targeted a fleet of cars of the so-called “Hezbollah” on Sabbour-Beirut road, killing a number of Hezbollah members including a prominent military leader.