Israeli raids in Syria have intensified after the Palestinian Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 that triggered war in the Gaza Strip.
At least 14 people were killed on Sunday, September 8, Syrian state media reported, in Israeli strikes targeting military sites in central Syria, including a research center, according to an NGO.
Since the start of the civil war in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes there, particularly targeting pro-Iranian groups.
“The number of martyrs resulting from the Israeli aggression on several sites in the vicinity of Mesyaf has risen to 14 and the wounded are 43,” the director of the hospital in this region was quoted by Sana. A UK-based NGO had reported seven deaths in a previous report.
The attack also destroyed military buildings and centers in the area housing scientific research centers near Masyaf, “where pro-Iranian groups and weapons development experts are present,” the NGO added. A staunch ally of President Bashar al-Assad, Tehran has “military advisers” in Syria.
“Thirteen violent explosions were heard”
Shortly before, the director of the Masyaf government hospital, Faisal Haidar, had reported five dead and 19 injured, in comments reported by the official Syrian agency Sana.
“Around 23:20 on Sunday, the Israeli enemy carried out an air aggression from northwest Lebanon, targeting a number of military sites in the central region,” Sana said, citing a military source. “Our air defense shot down some missiles,” the source added.
“Thirteen violent explosions rang out in the area housing scientific research centers in Masyaf, where pro-Iranian groups and weapons development experts are present,” the OSDH said.
Tehran has also condemned these strikes, with Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani calling it a “criminal attack” and calling for “supporters of the (Israeli) regime to stop supporting and arming it.”
“The regime’s air defenses attempted to confront a violent Israeli attack, in three stages, targeting military sites” of the Syrian army in Masyaf, west of Hama, and four other sites in this region, added the OSDH.
“The regime’s air defenses” managed to shoot down a number of Israeli missiles, according to the UK-based SOHR, which has a vast network of sources in the war-torn country.
Israel wants to limit Iran’s presence in Syria
Israeli raids in Syria have intensified after the large-scale attack by Palestinian Hamas on Israel on October 7 that triggered the war in the Gaza Strip. Israeli officials rarely comment on the strikes but have repeatedly said they will not allow arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence in Syria.
At the end of August, three pro-Iranian fighters were killed in the central region of Homs, in strikes attributed to Israel, according to the SOHR. A few days later, the Israeli army also announced that it had killed members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in a strike in Syria, on the border with Lebanon, without specifying the number.
