The Syrian Defense Ministry said Israel fired missiles at several targets on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, killing and injuring a number of civilians.
The missile was launched from the direction of the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights at 1 p.m. Damascus time, the Syrian Defense Ministry said on January 29. The agency initially said the attack killed “a number of Iranian advisers,” but later retracted the information.
Iran's Tasnim news agency said the Israeli strike hit an "Iranian military advisory centre" in the Sayyida Zeinab area on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, but Iran's ambassador to Syria, Hossein Akbari, denied the claim. He also insisted that "no Iranian citizens or advisers" had been killed in the attack.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said Israel had raided a military base operated by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Hezbollah militant group, killing seven people, including pro-Tehran fighters.
The Israeli Defense Ministry has not commented on the information.
Israeli F-35 fighter jets perform at Hatzerim air base near the city of Beer Sheva in June 2023. Photo: AFP
Since the civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has carried out hundreds of raids against government and pro-Iranian positions in Syria, aiming to prevent Tehran from expanding its influence in the region.
The number of attacks increased sharply after the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out in late October last year, in the context of Tel Aviv accusing Iran of supporting armed groups in the Gaza Strip.
On January 20, Israel continued to raid a building used by Iranian advisers in Damascus, killing five IRGC officers, including one who was the commander of the force's intelligence operations. Iran's Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the attack, affirming that it would respond to Tel Aviv "at the appropriate time and place".
Location of Israel and Syria. Graphics: BBC
Pham Giang (According to AFP, Washington Post )
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