Amid growing military buildup by Iran’s Islamic Guard (IRGC) and Hezbollah terror militia in neighboring Syria, an Israeli airstrike hit an Iranian-controlled high-security area in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
On late night Saturday, an Israeli missile hit an area which is known as “home to senior security officials, security branches and intelligence headquarters and Iranian installations,” the British newspaper Guardian confirmed.
Noting the Iranian connected to the targeted site, Reuters reported that the Israeli airstrike “hit a building in the central Damascus neighbourhood of Kafr Sousa, near a heavily guarded security complex close to Iranian installations.”
Syrian sources confirmed the presence of Iranian military operatives in the area. “Orient News, a Syrian opposition media outlet, claimed the strikes targeted Iranian militia officials at the so-called Iranian school in Kafar Sousah,” The Times of Israel wrote.
Israeli military reportedly also hit other terrorist targets outside the Syrian capital. “Other missiles overnight hit a warehouse used by pro-regime Iranian and Hezbollah fighters near Damascus,” France24 TV channel reported Sunday, citing dissident Syrian sources.
The Jerusalem Post covered the details of the Israeli airstrike:
An alleged Israeli missile strike hit a building in the Kafr Sousa neighborhood of central Damascus early on Sunday, near a large security complex in the vicinity of Iranian military installations, witnesses and an official source told Reuters.Five people were killed, including a Syrian soldier, and 15 were wounded in the alleged attack, which a Syrian military source said came from the direction of the Golan Heights, Syrian state media outlet Sana claimed.The strike also caused the “destruction of a number of civilian homes, and material damage to a number of neighborhoods in and around Damascus,” the military source added.
In keeping with its long-held practice, the Israeli military did not comment on the apparent counter-terrorist strike.
In recent years, Iran and its proxy terror militia Hezbollah have build up extensive presence in dictator Bashar al-Assad ruled Syria. In September 2022, the Israeli news website Ynet reported that Iran was turning Syrian military sites into rocket factories for Hezbollah and other terrorist groups in the region.
To contain this growing jihadist and terrorist threat, the Israeli military has conductted several precision strikes in recent months, hitting Iranian weapons shipments and warehouses in Syria.
The strike came shortly before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Iranian involvement in a recent drone attack on an Israeli-owned tanker in the Arabian sea.
The Israeli TV channel i24news reported Sunday:
‘Against the Iranian front, our efforts do not stop for a simple reason because Iran’s acts of aggression do not stop,’ says Netanyahu During the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Israel’sPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Iran was responsible for an attack on an oil tanker last week.The captain of the Liberian-flagged Campo Square confirmed an attack on the vessel on Saturday. He said that on February 10, while traveling through the Arabian Sea, the ship was mildly damaged by an aerial object. The tanker was associated with Zodiac Maritime, under the direction of Israeli shipping tycoon Eyal Ofer.Regional defense and security sources have said they suspected the assault was carried out by Iran, which did not comment on the incident. Tehran has rejected accusations it was behind similar attacks in the past few years.
This is not the first attack on an Israeli ship in these waters. In February 2021, Iran carried out a similar attack against an Israeli cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman.
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