Syrian missile falls near Lebanese village

A Syrian air defence missile fell near a southern Lebanese border town on Thursday, waking residents up to a loud sound.

Israel carried out a missile attack near the Syrian capital of Damascus and its southern suburbs early Thursday that wounded four soldiers, Syria’s state media said.

State news agency SANA quoted an unidentified military official as saying that Syrian air defences were able to shoot down most of the missiles before they hit their targets.

SANA said some of the missiles were fired by Israeli warplanes flying over neighbouring Lebanon.

Residents of some of Lebanon's southern regions woke up early on Thursday to the blaring sound of Israeli warplanes flying over their homes to reach their targets in Syria.

The planes were flying so low, "we felt they were going to touch the mountains then we heard a very strong sound", said Houla resident Abdullah Mustafa.

Al-Manar TV of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group said one of the Syrian air defence missiles exploded near the Lebanon-Syria border and was heard in parts of southern Lebanon.

It later said the missile crashed near Houla, a Lebanese border village.

Israel has launched hundreds of strikes against Iran-linked military targets in Syria over the years but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations.

Israel views Iranian entrenchment on its northern frontier as a red line, and it has repeatedly struck Iran-linked facilities and weapons convoys destined for Hezbollah.