Syrian state media accused Israel of launching airstrikes on the Aleppo area in conjunction with a kamikaze drone attack launched by rebel groups based in Idlib and areas near Aleppo early Friday morning.
According to the state news agency SANA, several civilians and military personnel were killed and injured in the attack. The news agency added that the alleged Israeli airstrikes were carried out from the airspace southeast of Aleppo.
According to Reuters, 38 civilians and military personnel and five Hezbollah terrorists were killed in the strikes. Initial reports indicated that one of the Hezbollah members killed was named Abu Hussein Shehimi. Shehimi's brother is Siraj Shehimi, one of the leaders of Hezbollah’s Radwan Divison who was killed in an Israeli strike in Beit Yahoun in Lebanon in November. Hezbollah had not officially confirmed Shehimi's death as of Friday morning.
#عاجل | لقطات من القصف الإسرائيلي على مواقع في مدينة حلب#تلفزيون_سوريا pic.twitter.com/DzMcchkDGL
— تلفزيون سوريا (@syr_television) March 28, 2024
Just a few hours before those strikes, a site used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in Sayyida Zeinab near Damascus was targeted in an alleged Israeli airstrike on Thursday afternoon, according to Syrian reports.
Just two hours before the strike, leaders from the IRGC, Hezbollah, the Syrian Army, and the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces held a meeting at the targeted building, according to the Syrian Capital Voice news site.
غارة إسرائيلية تستهدف مبنى على أطراف منطقة السيدة زينب من جهة طريق المطار.#صوت_العاصمة #سوريا #دمشق #القصف_الإسرائيلي #السيدة_زينب pic.twitter.com/xoxTzQxUrK
— صوت العاصمة (@damascusv011) March 28, 2024
At least two people were injured in the strike, according to Syrian state media. Photos reportedly from the scene showed a collapsed building and a heavily damaged vehicle.
The Sayyida Zeinab area serves as a stronghold for Iranian militias. It has been targeted repeatedly by alleged Israeli airstrikes since the war began, including several instances in which officers in the IRGC were eliminated.
Israel ramps up strikes in Syria
The strikes on Thursday came just a few days after at least one member of the IRGC was killed in a series of airstrikes that targeted sites in the Deir Ezzor region of eastern Syria.
The Syrian state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday afternoon that airstrikes targeted several sites in the Deir Ezzor region on Monday night, killing seven Syrian soldiers and one civilian and injuring another 19 soldiers and 13 civilians. SANA accused the US of carrying out the strikes.
Iranian media reported that a "military advisor" from the IRGC named Behrouz Vahedi was killed in the strikes. Additionally, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday that an engineer who worked for them was killed amid the strikes.
While some Syrian and Iranian media outlets blamed the US, Israeli defense sources said Tuesday that the strikes were carried out by the IDF and hit “significant targets” belonging to the IRGC that were used to smuggle weapons to terrorist groups in the West Bank. The targeted sites were located in bases belonging to the Syrian Army.
US Defense Department Spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters on Tuesday evening that the US did not launch any strikes in Syria.
The strikes in Deir Ezzor earlier this week were conducted in response to Iranian attempts to smuggle powerful weapons to terrorists in the West Bank which were uncovered by the Shin Bet and IDF on Monday, according to Israeli defense sources.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.