Damascus, Syria): Syrian state news reported that Israeli airstrikes targeted a residential neighborhood in central Damascus in the early hours of Sunday. An unspecified number of people were killed and wounded, Syrian state media agency SANA reported, citing a source in the Damascus police command. Loud explosions were heard in the capital at around 12.30 local time, and SANA reported that the Syrian air defense was “engaging with hostile targets in the sky around Damascus.”
There was no immediate statement from Israel on the attack. Israeli airstrikes often target areas around Damascus. Saturday night’s attack was the first since the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake in turkey and syria On 6 February.
#SyriaAt least 15 dead, strike continues in Israel #Damascus City.#Iran
@defense pic.twitter.com/pAdJa9XhnN— Mete Sohtaoglu (@metesohtaoglu) February 18, 2023
The last reported attack on Damascus was on January 2, when the Syrian military reported that Israeli forces fired missiles toward the Syrian capital’s international airport early Monday, putting it out of service and killing two soldiers. died and two others were injured.
Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, but rarely acknowledges or discusses the operations.
However, Israel has acknowledged that it targets targets of Iran-affiliated militant groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to support Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.
The Israeli strikes come amid a widening shadow war between Israel and Iran. The attacks on airports in Damascus and Aleppo were carried out over fears that they were being used to ship Iranian weapons into the country.