Russia and Syria say Israel was responsible for missile strike on Syrian air base

Missile strike in Syria — (Image credit: Mohamad Abazeed/AFP/Getty Images)

Syria originally blamed the U.S. for a missile strike on its T4 air base in central Homs province early Monday, but after the U.S. and France both said they did not fire any missiles, Russia's military said that two Israeli fighter jets had launched the eight missiles from Lebanese air space. Syrian state TV followed suit, saying two Israeli F-15 had fired the missiles, five of which were shot down while the other three hit the base. President Trump had warned that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would pay a "big price" for a chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of people in a rebel-held town and injured hundreds.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said the missile strikes killed 14 people at the base, including Iranians or members of Iran-backed militias. The Associated Press has some cellphone footage of the missiles, which you can watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.