BICOM

A Syrian Human rights organisation has reported a large explosion in Damascus and a fire near Damascus international airport.

“The blast was huge and could be heard in Damascus,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Syrian opposition sources and Lebanese Al-Manar have said the explosion may have been the result of an Israeli air strike on a military airfield that is used by Iranian-supported troops.

The depot is believed to handle a significant amount of weapons from Iran that are subsequently transferred to different militias, among them Hezbollah.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli military, asked if Israel had been involved in carrying out air strikes targeting Damascus airport, said: “We can’t comment on such reports.”

Speaking to Israel Radio this morning, Israeli Minister of Intelligence Yisrael Katz neither confirmed nor denied Israel’s involvement in the attack: “I can confirm that the incident in Syria corresponds completely with Israel’s policy to act to prevent Iran’s smuggling of advanced weapons via Syria to Hezbollah in Iran. Naturally, I don’t want to elaborate on this.”

Israel has declared its commitment to stay out of direct involvement in the five-year long civil war in Syria. However, it has vowed to prevent Hezbollah acquiring so called game-changing weapons under the guise of the Syrian civil war. Although rarely confirming such action, Israeli leaders have routinely warned against attempts to supply Hezbollah with advanced weaponry.

Israel has also sought to prevent hostile actors positioning themselves along Israel’s border with Syria and turning it into an active front with established military infrastructure. On Wednesday, Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who is attending a security conference in Moscow and also met with Russian Defence Minister and Foreign Minister, further enunciated Israel’s policy, stating that Israel “will not allow Iranian and Hezbollah forces to be amassed on the Golan Heights border.”