Syria
A cloud of smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike which targeted south of the capital Damascus on July 20, 2020. File photo: AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - At least two civilians were killed as a result of Israeli missile strikes in the vicinity of Damascus on early Tuesday, reported Syrian state media (SANA), marking the fourth Israeli attack in Syria in under a week.
SANA stated that the attack also resulted in material damage, adding that “most of” the missiles were intercepted and shot down by the Syrian air defenses.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) however, said that a missile, believed to have been fired by the Syrian forces in an attempt to intercept the Israeli projectiles, hit a nearby glass factory which resulted in the killing of the two civilians.
The Israeli missiles targeted military positions of pro-Iran militias and centers of the Syrian regime’s air defense, SOHR added.
This is the tenth Israeli attack in Syria since the start of the year, and the fourth one since Thursday.
Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on regime-controlled areas of Syria throughout its 11-year civil war, often claiming to target pro-Iran militias, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah group which supports the Syrian army.
Israel rarely comments on airstrikes attributed to it in Syria but it has repeatedly warned that it would not tolerate an increase in Iranian presence.
Iran and Israel have been engaged in a shadow war consisting of long-running covert attacks on Iranian military and nuclear facilities, as well as sabotage and cyber-attacks. Iranian fighters are also frequently targeted in suspected Israeli strikes in Syria.
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