<p>A Syrian surface-to-air missile exploded in southern Israel on Thursday, the Israeli military said, in an incident that triggered warning sirens in an area near the secretive Dimona nuclear reactor.</p>.<p>There were no immediate reports of any injuries or damage in Israel.</p>.<p>The military said that in response to the launch, it attacked several missile batteries in Syria, including the one that fired the projectile that struck southern Israel.</p>.<p>Syria's state news agency said Syrian air defences intercepted the Israeli attack that targeted areas in the Damascus suburbs.</p>.<p>"Air defences intercepted the rockets and downed most of them," the agency said.</p>.<p>Israeli Army Radio said the Syrian missile had been fired at Israeli aircraft during an earlier strike and had overflown its target and reached the Dimona area.</p>.<p>A Reuters reporter about 90 km (56 miles) north of Dimona heard the sound of an explosion minutes before the military tweeted that sirens had gone off in the region.</p>.<p>The errant Syrian missile was an SA-5, one of several fired at Israeli air force planes, according to an Israeli military spokesman. It did not hit the reactor, he added.</p>.<p>Israeli media have said for weeks that air defences around the Dimona reactor and the Red Sea port Eilat were being beefed up in anticipation of a possible long-range missile or drone attack by Iranian-backed forces - perhaps from as far away as Yemen.</p>.<p>Tensions are high between Israel and Iran over Tehran's nuclear programme and a recent surge in sabotage attacks, some of which the arch-foes have blamed on each other.</p>.<p>Early on Thursday, the Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen's Houthis intercepted a drone attack by the Iran-aligned movement on the southern Saudi city of Khamis Mushait, state media reported.</p>
<p>A Syrian surface-to-air missile exploded in southern Israel on Thursday, the Israeli military said, in an incident that triggered warning sirens in an area near the secretive Dimona nuclear reactor.</p>.<p>There were no immediate reports of any injuries or damage in Israel.</p>.<p>The military said that in response to the launch, it attacked several missile batteries in Syria, including the one that fired the projectile that struck southern Israel.</p>.<p>Syria's state news agency said Syrian air defences intercepted the Israeli attack that targeted areas in the Damascus suburbs.</p>.<p>"Air defences intercepted the rockets and downed most of them," the agency said.</p>.<p>Israeli Army Radio said the Syrian missile had been fired at Israeli aircraft during an earlier strike and had overflown its target and reached the Dimona area.</p>.<p>A Reuters reporter about 90 km (56 miles) north of Dimona heard the sound of an explosion minutes before the military tweeted that sirens had gone off in the region.</p>.<p>The errant Syrian missile was an SA-5, one of several fired at Israeli air force planes, according to an Israeli military spokesman. It did not hit the reactor, he added.</p>.<p>Israeli media have said for weeks that air defences around the Dimona reactor and the Red Sea port Eilat were being beefed up in anticipation of a possible long-range missile or drone attack by Iranian-backed forces - perhaps from as far away as Yemen.</p>.<p>Tensions are high between Israel and Iran over Tehran's nuclear programme and a recent surge in sabotage attacks, some of which the arch-foes have blamed on each other.</p>.<p>Early on Thursday, the Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen's Houthis intercepted a drone attack by the Iran-aligned movement on the southern Saudi city of Khamis Mushait, state media reported.</p>