Syrian regime air defenses intercepted an Israeli aerial attack that targeted military positions in Masyaf city and surrounding areas in the Hama countryside in central Syria, reported the SANA news agency. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the strikes targeted a middle-range missiles development center, which killed a number of Iranian fighters and injured 17 members of the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them. A military source told SANA that at about “2:30 am on Saturday, warplanes of the Israeli enemy carried out an airstrike … on one of the military positions towards Masyaf city.” The source added that regime defenses immediately intercepted the hostile missiles and downed some of them before they reached their targets. It said that the attack caused the destruction of some buildings and the injury of three fighters Speaking to AFP, Observatory director Rami Abdul Rahman revealed that several Iranian fighters were killed in the attack, “but we have not been able to determine their number so far." An Israeli army spokesman declined to comment on the incident when approached by AFP. This is not the first time Masyaf has been targeted, as Damascus has repeatedly accused Israel of bombing military sites there. In recent years, Israel has stepped up its attacks in Syria, targeting positions of the Syrian regime, Iranian forces and the Lebanese Hezbollah party. In March, Israeli forces attacked positions in Aleppo. Damascus announced that its air defenses intercepted the raid which, according to the Observatory, left seven fighters dead. On January 21, the Israeli army announced that it raided intelligence and training centers, claiming they belonged to the Iranian al-Quds Force, as well as ammunition sites and another location at Damascus International Airport. The Observatory reported that the raids killed 21 people, including Iranian forces and fighters associated with them. Israel repeatedly declares that it will continue to address what it calls Irans attempts to consolidate its military presence in Syria and send advanced weapons to Hezbollah. Since the beginning of the Syrian war, Israel has carried out dozens of military strikes in Syria, targeting suspected arms transfers and deployments of Iranian forces and allied Hezbollah fighters to provide military support to regime leader Bashar Assad.