Israeli strikes on Syria kill soldier: State media

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - At least one Syrian army soldier was killed on Thursday in Israeli airstrikes on Damascus and Homs, state media reported, and seven others were wounded. 

“At around 3:40 this morning, the Israeli enemy launched an air attack from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan and northern Lebanon, targeting two points in the Kafr Sousa neighborhood of Damascus and one of the military points in the Homs countryside,” Syria’s state-run SANA news agency said, citing a unnamed military source. 

One soldier was killed and seven others were wounded in the strike in the central Homs province, SANA said. 

Israel has recently intensified its strikes in Syria, targeting warehouses of the Syrian army and Iran-backed militia positions.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the strike in Damascus killed an “unidentified person” and injured three others, adding that Syrian air defense systems failed to activate against the missiles. 

Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on regime-controlled areas in Syria through its over a decade-long civil war, often claiming to target pro-Iran militias, such as Lebanese Hezbollah that 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 has prompted significant retaliation. 

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

Israel has carried out 121 strikes on Syrian territory since the beginning of the year, killing 261 combatants and wounding 188 more, according to the Observatory that relies on a network of on-the-ground sources in the country.