By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
DAMASCUS/BEIRUT (Worthy News) – Israel apparently stepped up air strikes in eastern Syria on Saturday, killing at least 19 pro-Iran fighters as part of efforts to prevent attacks against the Jewish nation, a war monitor said.
The well-informed Syrian Observatory for Human Rights explained that “19 pro-Iranian fighters, including four Syrians and six Iraqis, were killed and more than 18 were wounded” in at least nine air strikes overnight near the Iraqi border.
It said the raids were “likely carried out by Israel” after earlier indicating they were “likely American.”
Earlier, eleven senior members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Syria were killed in an overnight attack on Damascus International Airport, the Saudi Al-Hadath network reported Friday, citing sources.
Most of the officers made up the senior command of the Revolutionary Guards and other pro-Iranian militias in eastern Syria were killed in the attack.
The Saudi channel also claimed that the commander of Iran’s forces in eastern Syria, Norat Rasheed, was injured in the attack. There was no independent confirmation of the report.
SENIOR FIGURES
The channel said the attack was aimed at a delegation that had landed at the airport and met with other senior figures.
If confirmed, the attack would be more devastating to the force than the killing four years ago of former commander Qassem Soleimani, sources said.
Soleimani was killed by a U.S. drone strike in January 2020 near Baghdad International Airport in Iraq after leading the Quds Force, one of five branches of Iran’s IRGC, officials said.
Another strike on Thursday blamed on Israel hit targets in the south of the country as well as the Damascus airport area, but air defense systems managed to shoot down most of the missiles, according to Syrian authorities.
The attack reportedly left destruction and two Syrian soldiers injured.
Washington denied involvement in the latest strikes, with a U.S. military official saying the United States “did not conduct any defensive strikes overnight.”
ARCH-FOE IRAN
Israel rarely comments on individual strikes targeting Syria, but it has repeatedly said it will not allow arch-foe Iran, which backs President Bashar al-Assad’s government, to expand its presence there and in the region.
The attacks also came as Israeli reports emerged Saturday that Iran was set to deliver sophisticated weaponry to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Hezbollah, viewed as an Iran-backed terrorist organization by Israel, has made clear it is preparing for an expanding confrontation with Israel.
The weapons delivered by Iran include precise weapons, primarily missiles and drones, to be used against Israeli cities and sensitive sites, Israeli sources say.
Many of the weapons are reportedly delivered through Syria’s Damascus Airport, which was allegedly hit by Israel’s military.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Nuclear material has been discovered in Syria and placed under International Atomic Energy Agency oversight, reviving attention on a clandestine nuclear program that Israel destroyed nearly two decades ago.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. special envoy Jared Kushner have reached an understanding that Hamas must be fully disarmed and the Gaza Strip demilitarized before reconstruction begins or Israeli forces withdraw, marking a significant narrowing of differences between Jerusalem and the Trump administration over the future of Gaza.
Humanoid robots capable of navigating rugged terrain, detecting people and conducting around-the-clock surveillance could eventually join U.S. Border Patrol operations along the southern border, as an American robotics company moves closer to potential national-security deployments.
Israel carried out an unusual airstrike deep inside northwestern Syria early Tuesday, targeting the strategic Abu al-Duhur military airfield shortly after a Turkish military delegation reportedly visited the base to assess its rehabilitation, according to Israeli and Syrian reports. The operation prompted a rare public rebuke from a senior U.S. envoy.
Newly declassified FBI records released by the White House detail what officials describe as a years-long Chinese intelligence effort to penetrate American political circles through sexual relationships, campaign donations, and strategically placed interns.
President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace is considering a significant overhaul of its Gaza disarmament framework after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a plan that would have linked Hamas weapons handovers to phased Israeli troop withdrawals, according to an exclusive report by The Times of Israel.
Iran’s rulers were quietly preparing for a broader and potentially prolonged Middle East war even as Tehran publicly engaged in diplomatic efforts with the United States, according to an exclusive investigation by The Wall Street Journal.