By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
DAMASCUS/JERUSALEM (Worthy News)— Israel’s military confirmed Sunday that it struck “a Syrian military command center and infrastructure sites” after Syria targeted Israel with drones.
A Syrian soldier was killed and several others injured in the Israeli strikes on several positions in and around Damascus early Sunday, Syrian state media said.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also said “terror targets used by the Syrian military’s Aerial Defense Unit were struck.”
The IDF added that the “Syrian regime is responsible for all terror activities occurring within its territory and will be held accountable for it.”
In remarks monitored by Worthy News, the IDF said the attacks were “in response to two [unmanned aerial vehicles] UAVs approaching the area north [of the Israeli port and resort town] Eilat from Syrian territory.”
However, they “were successfully intercepted” on Saturday,” the IDF said. Soon after, the IDF struck the sites in Syria, the military said.
The statement was a rare acknowledgment by the Israeli military of action in Syria, where it launched hundreds of strikes since the country’s civil war erupted in 2011.
ARMY POSITIONS
However, the strikes have mainly targeted army positions and Iran-backed fighters, according to Israeli officials.
In Israel’s early Sunday strike, “a soldier was killed and three others injured following an aerial aggression launched by the Israeli enemy after midnight” on Sunday, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported.
The strike “was launched from the occupied Syrian Golan Heights targeting several military positions in the southern region and a residential building in the Kafr Sousa district of Damascus,” it added.
It said that aerial defense systems had intercepted and downed several missiles “despite their intensity.”
The news agency published a photo showing a fire in what appeared to be a crater caused by the blast.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights meanwhile said a Syrian pro-government fighter had been killed and six others injured in Israeli strikes targeting a building in Kafr Sousa and a military headquarters south of Damascus.
The building in Kafr Sousa, which hosted fighters from the so-called “axis of resistance” — Iran-backed armed factions opposed to the US and Israel — was destroyed, according to the Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of sources in Syria.
MUNITIONS EXPLOSION
Local radio station Sham.FM had reported “the explosion of a munitions depot following an Israeli attack that targeted a position near the capital.”
“The blasts were very strong and came in succession,” a resident of the eastern Damascus neighborhood of Mezzeh said, adding that this was followed by “the strong odor of gunpowder.”
The attacks and counter-attacks underscored concerns that a new front is opening involving Syria and Israel.
However, Israel is already facing a possible massive assault from Hezbollah in Lebanon and the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.
Despite the challenges and concerns the conflicts will further drain military resources, IDF said Sunday that its” operational activity continues throughout the Gaza Strip.”
The IDF said an “anti-tank missile launcher in the Rafah area” of Gaza “used to fire at IDF troops was struck.”
IDF troops “are continuing targeted, intelligence-based operational activity in the Rafah area,” the military said.
TROOPS COOPERATING
“The troops, in cooperation with the IAF, struck an anti-tank missile launcher used to fire at IDF troops. In addition, a terrorist cell that posed a threat to the troops in the area was struck,” the army added.
“Furthermore, IDF troops dismantled a number of underground tunnel shafts and terrorist infrastructure sites located in the area. In the area of Gaza City, IDF troops eliminated several terrorists in close-quarters combat.”
The military added that “During one operation, a terrorist cell was identified moving in the area and attempting to plant an explosive near the troops. Shortly afterward, the IAF struck and eliminated the terrorist cell.”
It was not clear how many people were killed in the attacks targeting Hamas, deemed a terrorist organization by Israel.
The Hamas-run health ministry claims more than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its war against Hamas in Gaza.
However, the Israeli government has slightly lower numbers and suggests nearly half of those killed were Hamas fighters and their allies.
Israel launched its war after Hamas attacked the Jewish nation on October 7, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping about 250 others.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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