Syrian air defenses were active early Wednesday as Israel fired several surface-to-surface missiles at military positions near the capital, Damascus, state media reported. There was no word on the casualties.

State media quoted an unidentified Syrian military official as saying the missiles were fired from northern Israel shortly after midnight and most of them were shot down. He added that the army was still examining the “results of the aggression”.

The attacks came hours after the Israeli military said an Israeli drone crashed on the Syrian side of the border on Tuesday, adding that an investigation had been opened into the matter.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said several missiles hit areas near Damascus International Airport on the southern outskirts of the capital , as well as several suburbs. He said the areas hit host Syrian military positions as well as some of the Iran-backed fighters.

There was no comment from the Israeli army on the attacks near Damascus.

This is the latest attack on Syria since April 14, when several missiles hit Syrian army positions near Damascus.

Israel has staged hundreds of strikes on targets in Syria over the years, but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations.

He admitted, however, that he was targeting the bases of militias allied with Iran, such as the Lebanese group Hezbollah which has fighters deployed in Syria. He says he is attacking the shipments of arms supposed to be intended for the militias.

Israel justifies its strikes on facilities and weapons inside Syria by saying that an Iranian presence on its northern border is a red line.