DAMASCUS (Dispatches) – Syrian air defenses have identified a missile that was fired toward the city of Masyaf near Hama and destroyed it before it hit its target, a Syrian military source says.
The missile was fired from the direction of northern Lebanon, the military source added in a statement distributed on a messaging app.
State television had previously reported the sound of a massive blast near Masyaf in Hama province although there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
Quoting an unnamed military source, Syria's official SANA news agency reported that the "hostile" missile was shot down at 23:06 local time (20:06 GMT) on Thursday over the city of Masyaf before reaching its designated target.
State television had previously reported the sound of a massive blast near Masyaf although there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
A spokeswoman for the Zionist regime’s military declined to comment on the strike, but the regime has acknowledged repeatedly striking targets inside Syria in recent years.  
Such aggressive moves are usually viewed as attempts to prop up terrorist groups suffering defeats at the hands of Syrian government forces.Israel used to be very careful with its operations over Syria after Russia equipped Damascus with the advanced S-300 surface-to-air missiles in October 2018.
However, U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to recognize "Israeli sovereignty” over the Syrian territories of Golan Heights has seemingly emboldened the regime to launch new aggression on the Arab country.

The file photo of a Syrian air defense system