Alleged Israeli airstrike hits Syria, 4th in under a week

Several airstrikes attributed to Israel by foreign reports have struck Syria throughout the week. Some reportedly killed IRGC members in the country.

Illustrative image of an airstrike. (photo credit: ABED RAHIM KHATIB/FLASH90)
Illustrative image of an airstrike.
(photo credit: ABED RAHIM KHATIB/FLASH90)

An alleged Israeli airstrike targeted the Damascus area on Monday night, the fourth such strike attributed to Israel in Syria in the past week by Syrian state media.

Initial reports indicated that casualties were caused after al-Kiswah, south of Damascus, was hit in the strikes. A site in Jebel el Mania was also reportedly hit in the strikes.

Two civilians were killed in the strike, reported SANA, the Syrian state news agency.

Previous alleged Israeli airstrikes in Syria

The strikes came a day after a suspected Iranian drone was downed by the IDF near the Hula Valley after it infiltrated Israel from Syria.

The strikes also come two days after the Dabaa airbase near al-Qusayr was targeted in an alleged Israeli airstrike, wounding five Syrian soldiers. Two days before that strike, on Thursday, two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel were killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike in Damascus.

Smoke rises after an air strike during fighting between members of the Syrian Democratic Forces and Islamic State militants in Raqqa, Syria (credit: REUTERS/ZOHRA BENSEMRA)
Smoke rises after an air strike during fighting between members of the Syrian Democratic Forces and Islamic State militants in Raqqa, Syria (credit: REUTERS/ZOHRA BENSEMRA)

The two IRGC personnel were identified as Milad Heydari and Meqdad Meqdani. The IRGC threatened to respond.

Less than 24 hours before that strike, on Wednesday, alleged Israeli airstrikes targeted the Damascus area as well, with Syrian state media reporting two Syrian soldiers injured in the strikes.

The opposition Capital Voice news site reported that the strikes on Wednesday night targeted an air defense base and a moving target on a highway south of Damascus believed to be the convoy of a “foreign figure” on its way to the Kafr Souseh neighborhood. Iranian and Hezbollah forces are known to operate in that neighborhood.

After the strikes, fires were reported in the al-Midan and Kafr Souseh neighborhoods. It is unclear if the fires were caused directly by the strikes or by shrapnel from Syrian air defense missiles, as Syrian air defense missiles occasionally fall short.