Eighteen people were killed on Monday in a series of “Israeli strikes” on military sites in central Syria, according to Syrian authorities, with an NGO reporting a higher toll.
“The number of martyrs of the Israeli aggression has reached 18,” Syrian Health Minister Mohammad al-Ghabbach told AFP during a tour of the Mesyaf region targeted by the strikes. He added that 37 people had been injured.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), based in the United Kingdom but with a vast network of sources in the war-torn country, reported 26 deaths. The director of the SOHR, Rami Abdel Rahman, stressed that it was “one of the most violent raids” carried out by the Israeli air force on Syria.
The NGO said that sensitive military sites had been targeted by the strikes, which it also blamed on Israel.
Asked by AFP in Jerusalem, the Israeli army said it “does not comment on information from foreign media.”
Since the start of the civil war in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes targeting President Bashar al-Assad’s army and pro-Iranian groups that support him.
During a tour supervised by the Syrian authorities, journalists were able to see burnt-out cars and damage to infrastructure on the road leading to the town of Mesyaf.
The director of the OSDH told AFP that the strikes had targeted “the Mesyaf scientific research center and surrounding sites.”
According to him, this center, in which Iranian experts work, “develops weapons, including precision missiles and drones.”
The OSDH said the dead were “five civilians, four Syrian soldiers, 14 Syrians working for pro-Iranian groups and three unidentified victims.”
– Strong criticism of Iran –
The OSDH added that the strikes had destroyed “buildings and military centers.”
The Syrian news agency SANA reported that the “Israeli enemy” aircraft carried out strikes on the night of Sunday to Monday against “a number of military sites in the central region”.
“Our air defenses shot down some missiles,” the agency added, citing a military source.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry strongly denounced the strikes in a statement, which it attributed to Israel, accusing it of trying “to provoke further escalation in the region.”
In Tehran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani also condemned the “criminal attack” which he blamed on Israel.
Israeli raids in Syria have intensified following the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, triggered by the Palestinian movement’s attack on Israeli soil on October 7.
Syria has tried to stay out of regional violence, but Israeli raids frequently target targets of the pro-Iranian Lebanese Hezbollah, which has been trading fire with the Israeli army from southern Lebanon.
Israeli officials rarely comment on the strikes but have repeatedly said they will not allow arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence in Syria.
Last April, a raid blamed on Israel targeted the Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing high-ranking Iranian officials and threatening to set the region ablaze.
Iran responded with an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israeli territory. Israeli raids on Syria have since decreased in intensity.
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