Suspected Israeli Air Strikes On Iran-Linked Targets Continue In Syria

A Hezbollah fighter stands in front of anti-tank artillery at Juroud Arsal, the Syria-Lebanon border, July 29, 2017.
A Hezbollah fighter stands in front of anti-tank artillery at Juroud Arsal, the Syria-Lebanon border, July 29, 2017.

A suspected Israeli strike hit a villa in Baniyas, Syria believed to have been inhabited by individuals affiliated with Iran-backed militia, A war monitor reported on Friday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that three loud explosions were heard in the southern outskirts of Baniyas at dawn, which were caused by what it said were Israeli air strikes. According to Iranian Student News Agency, Reza Zarei, “a military advisor of the Revolutionary Guards,” was Killed in the attack.

Israel has intensified air strikes in recent weeks targeting Iran’s Revolutionary Guard senior personnel and bases, as well as affiliated militia forces in Syria. On Thursday, there were two suspected Israeli attacks, one targeting a truck belonging to the Lebanese Hezbollah that is a major part of the Iranian-led forces in Syria. Israel also hit a Syrian air defense unit that fired at its aircraft.

There were several attacks in late January and early February on IRGC targets in Damascus and elsewhere in Syria, killing several high-ranking Iranian officers.

Iran intervened in the Syrian civil war more than a decade ago to support strongman Bashar al-Assad against his armed opponents. Israel saw the entrenchment of Iranian forces in Syria as a direct threat and began regularly attacking their bases and weapons concentrations from 2017.