Dec 7, 2021: The Syrian army says Israeli warplanes fired missiles at the vital Syrian port of Latakia, damaging containers but causing no casualties.

The Sanaa News Agency quoted military sources as saying that the attack took place on Tuesday at 1:23 a.m. local time (23:23 GMT).

An official said several missiles landed on the port’s container area, some of which caught fire. “Our air defenses repulsed Israeli aggression in Latakia,” he said.

It was an unusual attack on the port of Latakia, an important facility from which most of Syria’s imports are brought into the war-torn country. Syrian state TV reported that five explosions were heard at the port and a huge fire broke out in the container area and fire engines reached the port. Officials said the fire had been extinguished. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Israel has carried out hundreds of attacks on targets inside government-controlled Syria over the years, but rarely acknowledges or speaks of such actions. Some past attacks have targeted the capital, Damascus’ main airport.

However, Israel has acknowledged that it targets Iranian allied militia bases, such as the Lebanese Hezbollah group, whose fighters are stationed in Syria. Israel says it is attacking a consignment of weapons believed to be affiliated with the militia. Hezbollah is fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in a decades-old civil war.