IRGC member killed in alleged Israeli airstrikes near Damascus

Syrian state media said only material damage was caused by the airstrikes.

An Israeli Air Force F-35 fighter jet flies during an aerial demonstration at a graduation ceremony for Israeli air force pilots  (photo credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)
An Israeli Air Force F-35 fighter jet flies during an aerial demonstration at a graduation ceremony for Israeli air force pilots
(photo credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)

A member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was killed in alleged Israeli airstrikes targeted a site south of Damascus early on Friday morning, according to Iranian reports.

The Iranian Entekhab news site identified the killed IRGC member as Saeed Alidadi. The strikes targeted the Aqraba, south of Damascus, according to Nour Abo Hassan, a journalist in southern Syria.

The Syrian state news agency SANA reported that the airstrikes were carried out from over the Golan Heights and that the airstrikes only caused material damage without any casualties.

 Members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attend an IRGC ground forces military drill in the Aras area, East Azerbaijan province, Iran, October 17, 2022. (credit: IRGC/WANA/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)
Members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attend an IRGC ground forces military drill in the Aras area, East Azerbaijan province, Iran, October 17, 2022. (credit: IRGC/WANA/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)

Reported airstrikes come just days after previous strike

The strikes are the latest attributed to Israel in Syria as tensions continue to rise across the region. The last strike in the area was reported just a few days ago, with four members of the IRGC reported killed in that strike.

On Thursday, Reuters reported that the IRGC scaled back deployment of their senior officers in Syria due to a spate of deadly Israeli strikes, adding that the IRGC will rely more on allied Shi'ite militia to preserve their sway there.

Since December, Israeli strikes have killed more than half a dozen of their members, among them one of the Guards' top intelligence generals. Several of the strikes in which IRGC members were killed targeted the Sayyidah Zaynab area, not far from Aqraba, according to Syrian reports.

On Tuesday night, the Israeli Air Force struck military infrastructure belonging to the Syrian Army in the Daraa Governorate of southern Syria after several rockets were fired towards the Golan Heights.

Reuters contributed to this report.