Syrian soldier killed in Israeli strike – report

The attack caused the “martyrdom of a soldier” and the infliction of some material damage.

By Aryeh Savir/TPS

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) conducted an airstrike against targets in southern Syria on Wednesday night, during which a Syrian soldier was killed, the country’s state media reported.

SANA news agency quoted a military source who said that the attack was conducted from the direction of the Golan Heights, “targeting some points in the southern region,” and the military’s air defenses confronted the missiles and “shot down most of them.”

The attack caused the “martyrdom of a soldier” and the infliction of some material damage, the report said.

The last IAF strike attributed to Israel occurred on December 7 when the IAF bombed several targets in the Syrian commercial port of Lattakia, reportedly destroying a weapons shipment on its way to Iranian-backed Shia militias.

According to a count by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, this was the 28th time that Israel has targeted Syrian territory since the beginning of 2021. This is the seventh reported Israeli attack in Syria in recent weeks.

The IDF has remained silent on the reports, as it usually does in these cases.

Iran and Hezbollah have in recent years been working to build up a military presence in Syria, a threat that remains a red line for Israel.

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.

Israeli airstrikeMiddle EastSyria Israel