(JNS) The Israel Air Force (IAF) launched missiles at the airport in the northern Syria city of Aleppo on Wednesday, according to Syrian state media. Subsequently, air-defense systems in Damascus fired at Israeli missiles aimed south of the capital.

“At nearly 8 p.m., the Israeli enemy targeted Aleppo International Airport with a missile strike that caused material damage to the airport,” a military source told Syrian state news agency SANA late in the day.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based opposition war monitor, reported that this is the 23rd Israeli attack in Syria in 2022 and that the one near the capital came about an hour after the one at the airport.

“Four Israeli shells hit a runway of the Aleppo International Airport and warehouses in its vicinity, causing fire and explosions to erupt, likely to be due to the explosion of a batch of Iranian missiles,” asserted the observatory.

The observatory also claimed that Russian and regime forces were positioned at the airport. Furthermore, the Russians knew about the upcoming alleged Israeli airstrikes and had begun mobilizing 10 minutes before the attack, according to the organization.