Three Syrian soldiers were killed and three others were injured after alleged Israeli airstrikes targeted sites near Tartus on the coast of Syria and near Damascus on Sunday evening, according to Syrian state news agency SANA.
The strikes on the Damascus area were reportedly carried out by Israeli jets from over Beirut, while the strikes on Tartus were carried out from over the Mediterranean Sea. According to SANA, the airstrikes sparked fires near Tartus.
The reported strikes come just days after Syrian media reported that Israeli tanks had targeted observation posts in Syria's Quneitra region near the border with Israel, injuring three people. Opposition-affiliated media claimed that the posts belonged to Hezbollah.
بعد قصف وتدمير اليوم للنقطة مراقبة للحزب الله في بلدة الحميدية بريف القنيطرة الشمالي بثلاث قذائف دبابة، طائرات مسيرة إسرائيلية تلقي منشورات ورقية فوق المكان المستهدف pic.twitter.com/85MGzv5b2p
— Nour Abo Hasan (@nourabohsn) August 12, 2022
Flyers warning the Syrian military against cooperating with Hezbollah and Iranian militias were also dropped in the area on Friday, according to Syrian reports.
The Lebanese Foreign Ministry condemned the alleged Israeli airstrikes on Monday, saying it "strongly denounces the recent Israeli attack on Syria, and the Israeli enemy's use of Lebanese airspace to bombard Syrian territory."
The ministry warned of "the consequences of this aggressive behavior and the continued violation of Lebanese sovereignty, in flagrant violation of international law and treaties" and added that it would file a complaint to the United Nations Security Council to ask it to intervene.
Recent alleged Israeli strikes in Syria
Before the reported tank strikes in Quneitra, the last alleged Israeli strikes reported in Syria targeted sites near Damascus in late July, killing at least five Syrian soldiers and at least seven members of Hezbollah and other Iran-backed militias.
The strikes targeted a temporary warehouse containing electronic parts and chips used in missiles and drones on the outskirts of the Set Zaynab area, south of Damascus, as well as an air defense battery west of the capital, according to the Syrian Capital Voice news site. The strike reportedly hit the warehouse as members of Hezbollah and another pro-Iran militia were meeting to receive the parts and transport them to their final destination.
This is a developing story.