Syria’s air defense systems were activated at 1 a.m. local time on Feb. 9 (2300 GMT, Feb. 8) and Syrian state media reported that the “Israeli enemy” had allegedly carried out an aerial strike on Syria from an area northeast of Beirut. This was followed 10 minutes later by a surface-to-surface missile attack from the Golan Heights area. According to the report, the attacks were directed at targets in the Damascus suburbs, killing one soldier.

In a highly unusual response to the persistent strikes attributed to Israel in Syria, warning sirens also went off in Israel at 1:05 a.m. (2305 GMT) in the Arab-Israeli town of Umm al-Fahm and in northern Israeli West Bank settlements. Shortly thereafter, the Israeli military announced that it had identified an inbound SA-5 surface-to-air missile fired indiscriminately by Syrian air defenses. Unlike most similar instances in the past, Israel did not attempt to intercept the missile, presuming that unlike ballistic missiles that it is adept at heading off, SA-5s are harder to intercept. The missile eventually exploded in the air, with fragments and debris falling inside Israel and residents reporting explosions.

Israel does not generally claim responsibility for aerial raids on Syria designed to eliminate Iran’s entrenchment there. This time, too, Israel did not take responsibility for the initial attack. However, after the SA-5 was fired at its sovereign territory, Israel formally announced that in response to firing from Syria, it had attacked surface-to-air targets there, including a Syrian radar and batteries that had fired missiles at Israel air force fighters.

The overnight attack on Syria was the second attributed to Israel since a Jan. 24 joint Russia-Syria air patrol conducted in Syrian airspace. According to the Russian announcement at the time, Syrian and Russian pilots conducted an aerial patrol over the Golan Heights and the Euphrates River. The report also said the Russian pilots had taken off from the Khmeimim air base, while the Syrians took off from the Seikal and Dumayr airfields outside Damascus. The Russian Defense Ministry said that the patrol had flown Russia’s newest top-of-the-line Su-34 and Su-35 aircraft.