Israel says struck ‘military targets’ in south Syria
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Israeli military said on Monday it carried out airstrikes against military targets in southern Syria, while Damascus said three were killed in the strikes.
“The IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] is currently attacking military targets in southern Syria, including military headquarters and sites containing weapons and military equipment of the old Syrian regime, which they are currently trying to use,” the army said in a statement.
It stated that the presence of the military sites constitutes a threat to Israel. “The IDF will not allow a military threat to exist in southern Syria and will act against it.”
In a statement, Syria’s health ministry reported “3 martyrs and 19 civilian injuries, including 4 children and a woman,” in the strikes, which targeted positions near the city of Daraa.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said on Tuesday that four were killed in the strikes – three civilians and one security forces member – which targeted military bases near Daraa.
After the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Israel scrambled to destroy Syria’s military stockpiles. It also sent troops across the border into a buffer zone east of the annexed Golan Heights, defending its decision as a precaution against political uncertainty in Syria.
During Assad’s reign, Israel carried out hundreds of strikes during the course of the brutal Syrian civil war, often claiming to target pro-Iran militias, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah group that supported the Syrian army at the time.
“The IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] is currently attacking military targets in southern Syria, including military headquarters and sites containing weapons and military equipment of the old Syrian regime, which they are currently trying to use,” the army said in a statement.
It stated that the presence of the military sites constitutes a threat to Israel. “The IDF will not allow a military threat to exist in southern Syria and will act against it.”
In a statement, Syria’s health ministry reported “3 martyrs and 19 civilian injuries, including 4 children and a woman,” in the strikes, which targeted positions near the city of Daraa.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said on Tuesday that four were killed in the strikes – three civilians and one security forces member – which targeted military bases near Daraa.
After the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Israel scrambled to destroy Syria’s military stockpiles. It also sent troops across the border into a buffer zone east of the annexed Golan Heights, defending its decision as a precaution against political uncertainty in Syria.
During Assad’s reign, Israel carried out hundreds of strikes during the course of the brutal Syrian civil war, often claiming to target pro-Iran militias, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah group that supported the Syrian army at the time.