Israel carried out airstrikes near the central Syrian city of Homs early Sunday causing material damage but no casualties, the Syrian military said in a statement.

Israeli authorities did not comment on the airstrike on Homs but said one of the Syrian air defense missiles exploded over northern Israel without causing any damage.

Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee later said that Israel's military retaliated for the firing of the air defence missile that exploded over the country's north, by attacking Syrian air defense batteries from where the missile was fired.

It is not clear if the Syrian missile was launched during the air attack near Homs and strayed into Israeli airspace, or deliberately targeted Israel.

Syria uses Russian air defense systems and in recent months Russian forces have been altering these missiles to hit ground targets in Ukraine.

A large segment of the Syrian missile fell in Israel

But in 2022 also a Syrian air defense missile exploded over northern Israel and this could have been a similar incident, although the Israeli air force retaliated against the Syrian missile battery.

Residents of central and southern Israel reported hearing a large blast, according to Times of Israel, and shrapnel was recovered from what appeared to be parts of a surface-to-air missile from a Russian-made S-200 system.

Israel has in recent months intensified strikes on Syrian airports and air bases to disrupt Iran's increasing use of aerial supply lines to deliver arms to allies in Syria and the Lebanese Hezbollah. However, there were fewer reports of attacks in June.

Syrian state media said air defense's intercepted Israeli missiles across central parts of the country, downing most of them. A Syrian army statement said missiles that flew over parts of Lebanon's capital Beirut hit locations in the vicinity of the city of Homs, resulting only in material damage.

Claims by Syrian authorities cannot be independently verified.

After a mid-air explosion heard across Israel, remnants of the Syrian missile landed in Rahat, a town some 180 km (110 miles) south of the armistice line between the countries, Israeli police said. There was no word of any casualties.

Local media showed what appeared to be the blackened front end of a large missile, standing upright in an open area among residential buildings, and tail-fins in a field.

The Israeli military said its warplanes were unscathed.

The Israeli strikes are part of an escalation of what has been a low-intensity conflict continuing for years with a goal of slowing Iran's growing entrenchment in Syria, Israeli military experts say.

Tehran's military presence has grown in Syria since it began supporting President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war that started in 2011.

Thousands of Afghan, Iraqi and other militias trained, supplied and paid by Iran, in addition to the Lebanese Hezbollah, now hold sway in areas in eastern, southern and northwestern Syria and in several suburbs around the capital.

Documents hacked from the foreign ministry by an Iranian opposition group in May revealed that Bashar al-Assad’s government owes Iran $50 billion dollars, excluding Tehran’s direct military expenditures in the civil war.

With reporting by AP and Reuters