Israeli strike injures 8 Syrian troops near ‘Hezbollah building’

Syria’s defense ministry reported that eight soldiers were injured due to Israeli airstrikes near Damascus late Thursday evening. According to the ministry, the strikes originated from the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan and targeted an area close to Damascus. Although Israel generally does not provide comments on specific strikes, it has consistently expressed its commitment to preventing Iran, its principal adversary, from establishing a foothold in Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitoring group, noted that the strike hit a government facility in the Damascus countryside, which has been utilized by the Lebanese group Hezbollah since 2014.

Israel has been conducting airstrikes in Syria since the Syrian civil war began in 2011, mainly targeting Syrian army positions and groups backed by Iran. However, these airstrikes have intensified since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, following a deadly attack by the Iran-supported Palestinian group.

Furthermore, on April 19, Israeli forces targeted a position of the Syrian army in southern Syria, according to Syrian authorities and the Observatory. This occurred amidst reports in the U.S. media that Israel had struck Iran. In another significant development, Iran launched numerous drones and missiles at Israel on April 13 in retaliation for an attack, attributed to Israel, on Iran’s consulate in Damascus.

The ongoing war in Syria, which began in March 2011 following the suppression of anti-government protests, has resulted in the death of over half a million people and displaced millions.