US Reports: Israel Launched Airstrike into Syria

U.S. officials say Israel has launched an airstrike into Syria, while Israeli officials say they cannot comment on the report.

U.S. officials told news agencies late Friday that the strike occurred late Thursday or early Friday and likely targeted a suspected weapons site.  The reports said there is no indication that Israeli warplanes entered Syrian airspace.

The officials spoke to reporters anonymously.  The U.S. government has made no official remarks on the reports.

Online news source Politico cites U.S. Senator Lindsay Graham, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, as telling the audience at a Republican fundraising dinner Friday that Israel had bombed Syria that day. He did not elaborate.


Israel has declined to address the reports specifically, but says it is determined to prevent the transfer of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime to terrorists.

If confirmed, this would be the second time Israel has conducted airstrikes on Syria this year.  Israel recently stated that it conducted a January airstrike on a weapons convoy in Syria that was thought to be headed for Lebanon's Hezbollah rebels.