Israel launched an air attack on Syria earlier this month, targeting advanced anti-ship cruise missiles provided by Russia, according to reports.
US officials told The New York Times that the attack on July 5 took place near the city of Latakia, Syria’s principal port. The strike, the fourth known by Israel on Syria, was aimed at the Yakhont missile that Russia had sold to the Syrian Government.
Reports surfaced earlier this year that Russia had delivered an advanced version of theYakhont missile to Assad’s regime even though Russia had said it was committed to peace talks.
Such weapons would help to upgrade significantly Syria’s capacity to hit manned aircraft, drones and incoming missiles and would complicate efforts to enforce a no-fly zone if the US