Two Pro-Hezbollah Militants in Syria Perish in Israeli Airstrikes

Israeli airstrikes in the vicinity of Damascus, Syria, resulted in the deaths of two Syrian fighters affiliated with Hezbollah, as reported by a war monitor to AFP. These airstrikes took place near Sayyida Zeinab, less than a day after a ceasefire between Hamas, an ally of Hezbollah, and Israel concluded in Gaza.

Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, stated that along with the two fatalities, seven other Hezbollah fighters were injured in these strikes.

Since the outbreak of Syria’s civil war in 2011, Israel has conducted numerous airstrikes in Syria, mainly targeting Iran-supported forces, Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, and Syrian army positions. These attacks have increased since the start of Israel’s conflict with Hamas in October. Last year, Hamas declared the restoration of its ties with Syria’s government.

The British-based monitoring organization, with a network of sources within Syria, indicated that the strikes targeted Hezbollah in the Sayyida Zeinab area south of Damascus. Concurrently, Syria’s defense ministry confirmed the Israeli attack near Damascus, with reports of loud explosions heard in the city.

The ministry stated that the airstrikes were carried out from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting locations near Damascus, but reported no casualties. Syrian state television also covered this “Israeli aggression near the capital.”

The Israeli army, when contacted by AFP, did not provide any comments on the matter.

In a previous incident on November 8, Israeli airstrikes in the same area near Damascus killed three pro-Iran fighters, targeting Hezbollah sites, as noted by the Observatory. Moreover, on November 26, Israeli airstrikes rendered Damascus airport inoperative, shortly after it had resumed operations following a similar attack the previous month. Both Damascus and Aleppo airports were temporarily shut down following Israeli strikes on October 12 and 22.

Israel has seldom commented on specific strikes in Syria, but consistently maintains its stance against allowing Iran, a supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and an arch-enemy of Israel, to strengthen its presence in Syria. Hezbollah, an ally of Damascus, has been actively involved in supporting Assad in Syria’s ongoing conflict.