An Israeli rocket targeted a residential neighbourhood in Damascus on Sunday killing at least five people and wounding 15 more, according to Syrian authorities.
Loud explosions were heard around midnight local time from a central area of the capital. Syrian state news reported that Syrian air defences were “confronting hostile targets in the sky around Damascus.”
Local media said the strike damaged several buildings in the densely populated area of the Syrian capital.
The latest strike comes as the Northern part of Syria is still reeling from a devastating 7.5 earthquake which killed over 5,800 people. While Israel has targeted sites around Damascus in the past, it has not targeted residential areas before. There was no immediate statement from Israel on the attack.
A spokesperson for the Israeli military declined to comment.
Syria’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack “at a time when Syria was healing its wounds, burying its martyrs, and receiving condolences, sympathy, and international humanitarian support in the face of the devastating earthquake.”