Syrian air defenses thwarted Israeli missile attack over the town of Masyaf in Hama province on Saturday targeting the region from north of Lebanon.

Citing a military source, the Israeli strike on targets in the Arab country only caused material losses, Syrian media reported.

“At about 19:45 p.m. on Saturday, the Israeli enemy launched an aerial aggression from the direction of the north of Lebanon that targeted some points in the central region,” the source said, adding, “The army air defenses confronted it and shot down a number of missiles.”

The London-based so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is close to the Syrian opposition, said explosions were heard in the town of Masyaf and nearby areas in the west of government-controlled Hama province.

It said the strikes were the eighth by the Israeli regime against Syria so far this year.

Syria and the Israeli regime are technically at war due to the latter’s 1967-to-present occupation of Syria’s Golan Heights.

Israel maintains a significant military presence in the territory, which it uses as one of its launchpads for attacks against the Syrian soil.

The regime's attacks on Syria started to grow significantly in scale and frequency after 2011, when Syria found itself in the grip of rampant foreign-backed terrorism.

In early March, Israel launched a missile attack over the Syrian capital Damascus, killing at least two civilians.

A similar Israeli attack in the vicinity of Damascus on February 24 left three soldiers killed.

Tel Aviv claims that its attacks target alleged supplies that are headed for the Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah, which has played a key role in helping the Syrian army in its fight against the foreign-backed terrorists.

On countless occasions, though, the strikes have targeted reinforcement belonging to Syria’s military and its allies.

The Tel Aviv regime mostly keeps quiet about its attacks on the Syrian territories which many view as a knee-jerk reaction to the Syrian government’s increasing success in confronting terrorism.

Israel has been a key supporter of terrorist groups that have opposed the government of President Bashar al-Assad since foreign-backed violence erupted in Syria in March 2011.