18 dead after ‘intense’ Israeli airstrikes in Syria

Airstrikes attributed to Israel hit army positions and research centers across southern and central Syria, killing at least 18.

By World Israel News Staff

At least 18 people were killed and 32 people injured in a series of airstrikes across southern Syria attributed to Israel which anti-regime activists described as “intense.”

According to the state-controlled SANA media outlet, Israeli warplanes began attacking “military positions in the central region” at 8:23 p.m. Sunday, striking in the Hama region.

“The number of martyrs resulting from the Israeli aggression on a number of sites in the vicinity of Masyaf has risen to 14 martyrs and 43 wounded including six critically,” SANA said early Monday morning.

The strikes reportedly centered around the town of Masiyafa, including in Hayr al-Abbas.

The London-based opposition-backed Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) updated the death toll Monday to 18, adding that 32 others had been injured in four waves of airstrikes targeting pro-Iranian militias, regime military forces, and scientific research facilities.

The SOHR report described the Israeli airstrikes as “intense,” damaging surrounding farmland and sparking fires in wooded areas.

Additional strikes were reported in the Baniyas area north of Lebanon, including a hit on an object just off the coast of the Tartous Governate.

The ten fatalities included eight Syrian combatants, the SOHR report said, although it could confirm if they were soldiers in the Assad regime or members of pro-Iranian militias.

The report claimed that four civilians were killed, while six other individuals have yet to be identified.

In addition to the four air raids on Syria Sunday night, Israeli fighter jets also targeted Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon, striking targets in Kafr Kila, Taybeh, Hanine, and Yarine, the IDF confirmed, following an earlier strike on a Hezbollah position in Khirbet Selm, near Bint Jbeil.