Israeli Airstrikes On Syria Kill At Least Four Civilians, Says Syrian State Media
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At least four civilians have been killed after Israel launched multiple airstrikes on Syria’s Hama countryside, Syrian state media has reported.
Sources have said the attacks targeted a major military research center in the vicinity of the city of Misyaf, with a number of people injured.
Syria state news agency SANA reported that Syrian air defences “confronted an aggression that targeted several points in the central region”. The attack on Sunday reportedly damaged a highway in Hama province and sparked fires that firefighting teams were battling to control early Monday.
Since the 7 October attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians and soldiers, Israel has escalated its strikes on Iranian-backed militia targets in Syria and also struck its army air defences and some Syrian forces.
A local health official quoted by Syria’s state news agency said 13 people were wounded, with several suffering serious injuries with ambulances still ferrying the wounded.
Two regional intelligence sources said a major military research centre for chemical arms production located near Misyaf was hit several times. It is believed to house a team of Iranian military experts involved in weapons production.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, reported that one of the strikes targeted a scientific research center other sites where “Iranian militias and experts are stationed to develop weapons in Syria”.
Syria’s state media also reported that the strikes caused two fires, which firefighters were working to extinguish.
There has been no immediate comment from Israel, which typically does not comment on specific reports of strikes in Syria.
In the most high-profile attack on Syria since the war in Gaza began, suspected Israeli warplanes bombed Iran’s embassy in April, a strike that Iran said killed seven military advisers, including three senior commanders.
Israel has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment in Syria, particularly since the country is a key route for Iran to send weapons to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
