Israel attacks targets in Syria and Lebanon as air campaign continues

Members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent stand near the wreckage of car after what the Syrian state television said was a "guided missile attack" on the car in the Mazzeh area of Damascus, Syria October 21, 2024.
Members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent stand near the wreckage of car after what the Syrian state television said was a "guided missile attack" on the car in the Mazzeh area of Damascus, Syria October 21, 2024.

Israel carried out deadly air strikes on targets in Damascus and a military site near the western city of Homs early on Thursday, Syrian state media reported, and further bombarded Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility from Israel, which often does not detail its role in attacks on other countries.

"Aerial aggression from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan and northern Lebanon targeted two points in the Kafr Sousa neighborhood in Damascus and a military site in the Homs countryside," SANA quoted a military source as saying.

"(The attack) resulted in the martyrdom of one military member and the injury of seven others, in addition to causing material losses."

While Israel does not usually comment on alleged operations in Syria, the Jewish state has been carrying out strikes against Iranian-linked targets in Syria for more than a decade as Iran has increased its presence since the Syrian civil war began in 2011.

Raids have also ramped up since last year's October 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas sparked the Gaza war.

Since then, Iran’s armed allies around the region have been targeting the country from across its borders, including Yemen's Houthis and militias in Syria and Iraq which like Hamas have been designated terrorist organizations by the United States and the West.

Syrian state television on Monday reported a missile strike on a car in the Mazzeh area of Damascus. In a rare announcement, Israel’s military said the attack killed a Hezbollah commander responsible for weapons transfer from Iran.

The Israeli military also announced on Wednesday that it was conducting raids on underground hideouts containing weapons belonging to Lebanese Hezbollah’s Radwan Forces.

The bunker had been part of the operation named "Conquer the Galilee,” an alleged plot Israel says it uncovered to replicate October 7 from Israel’s north.

“In the hideout, the troops located bunk beds, storage cabinets, food supplies, infrastructure for long-term stay, a large amount of equipment, weapons, and launch positions left behind by the terrorists,” Israel's military said in a statement.

Since October 8, Hezbollah has launched over 13,000 projectiles from Lebanon in solidarity with Hamas, causing 63,000 Israelis to be displaced from northern Israel.

In south Lebanon, the fighting uprooted around 100,000 and since Israel’s ground invasion has led to hundreds of thousands more fleeing the area.

“In recent days, the troops have located four enemy weapons storage facilities, some of which were placed in civilian homes,” the Israeli military added. “The storage facilities contained a large number of weapons, including AK-47 rifles, ammunition, rockets, mortars, shoulder-fired missiles, RPGs, and advanced anti-tank missiles.”