IDF bombs targets in Syria, 3 killed – report

This latest strike follows a reported IAF attack on May 14 that killed five Syrian soldiers.

By Aryeh Savir, TPS

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) bombed targets in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Friday night, during which three people were killed and damage was caused to the targets, the Syrian Ministry of Defense stated.

A military source quoted in the report said that the missiles were launched from the Israeli Golan Heights and most were intercepted by the Syrian air defenses.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that the three people killed were officers and that four other members of an air defense crew were wounded.

The target of the Israeli strikes were Iranian bases and weapons depots near Damascus, according to the SOHR.

The IDF has remained silent on the report, as it usually does after reported operations in Syria.

This latest strike follows a reported IAF attack on May 14 that killed five soldiers and another one on April 27 which, according to the SOHR, killed 10 combatants, among them six Syrian soldiers, in the deadliest such raid since the start of 2022.

Friday night’s Strule was the thirteenth IAF strike in Syria since the beginning of 2022, according to the SOHR’s count, which destroyed multiple targets, including buildings, weapons and ammunition depots, and headquarters.

Iran routinely attempts to arm the Lebanon-based Hezbollah with advanced weapons. Israel has exposed and thwarted multiple attempts by Iran to transfer game-changing weapons to Hezbollah, including by air shipments from Iran, through Damascus Airport.

Over the years, the IAF has carried out thousands of attacks to thwart the Iranian entrenchment in the war-torn country and to prevent Hezbollah from accumulating advanced game-changing weapons.

According to the SOHR, the IAF conducted 29 strikes in Syria throughout 2021. The attacks hit 71 targets and killed 130 people, including 125 combatants from the Syrian military, Hezbollah and Iranian-backed Shiite militias.

The Damascus area was the most attacked in 2021, with 12 attacks out of the 29. The Damascus airport, which serves as an entry point for weapons coming from Iran on their way to Hezbollah in Lebanon, was one of the main targets.