Syria's air defenses on Monday intercepted an Israeli attack on the Al-Safirah area of southern Aleppo, Syrian state media reported.

Iran PressMiddle East: A Syrian military spokesman told SANA the damage was being assessed after air defenses downed most of the missiles that targeted a number of unspecified locations.

Explosions were heard across Aleppo, which was Syria's most populated urban center and a commercial and industrial powerhouse before the war.

Authorities said work was underway to repair the main electricity cable to the city after a direct hit cut power.

The airstrikes are the first since a new Israeli government led by Naftali Bennett came to power last month.

Bennett has vowed to maintain his predecessor's policy of attacking Syria, a development Israel's defense establishment says has upset the region's strategic balance.

Western intelligence sources say Israeli strikes on Syria are part of a shadow war approved by the United States.

Washington recently carried out strikes against facilities belonging to militias in eastern Syria in response to rocket attacks against US targets in Iraq.

The Pentagon earlier this month said it was deeply concerned about a series of retaliatory attacks on US personnel based in the northeast of the country who came under fire from the Syrian militias operating in the area that borders Iraq.

Thousands of Syrian militias have had a growing presence across Syria in the last year after helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad regain territory once lost to ISIL terrorists.

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