Syria says Israeli airstrike kills seven in Damascus

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Syrian defense ministry said on Tuesday that an Israeli airstrike targeted a building in the capital Damascus, killing seven civilians.  A war monitor said foreigners were among the casualties. 

The ministry said in a statement that Israel hit the “residential building” in the “densely-populated” Mezzeh neighborhood. Children and women were among the dead and 11 others were injured. The strikes also caused significant damage to the building and area.   

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which relies on a network of sources within the country, said that four people were killed in the attack, including two non-Syrians. 

The UK-based group added that the building, which it said is located 500 meters away from the Iranian embassy and close to the homes of Syrian regime officials, was frequented by members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement.

Israel has not commented on the incident. 

An attack on the consular section of the Iranian embassy in Damascus in April, which killed several IRGC members and a commander, was blamed on Israel and triggered Iran’s retaliatory attack on Israel days later. Israel has not claimed the attack. 

Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on regime-controlled areas of Syria throughout its over a decade-long civil war, often claiming to target pro-Iran militias, such as the Hezbollah group which supports the Syrian army. 

The strikes have increased since October 7 of last year, when Palestinian Hamas militants launched an unprecedented, large-scale attack on Israeli territory that prompted significant retaliation. 

Israel rarely confirms strikes attributed to it in Syria but has repeatedly warned that it would not tolerate its arch-rival Iran gaining a foothold there.