Syria
A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on May 29, 2024 shows an injured man receiving medical care at a hospital in the coastal city of Baniyas, following what Syria's defence ministry said was an Israeli air strike. Photo: SANA/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Syria’s defense ministry on Wednesday said that an Israeli airstrike on the coastal city of Baniyas killed a girl and injured ten. A war monitor said another strike killed six Hezbollah fighters.
“At approximately 19:30 this evening, the Israeli enemy launched an air attack from the direction of Lebanese territory, targeting a site in the central region and a residential building in the city of Baniyas in the coastal region,” Syria’s state-owned SANA news agency said, citing a defense ministry statement.
The strike killed a two-year-old girl and injured ten civilians while also causing material damage, according to SANA.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said that the Israeli strike on central Syria’s Homs killed six Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters – three Syrians and three non-Syrians.
It also reported the death of the girl, and said that 20 were injured in the Baniyas strike.
Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on regime-controlled areas of Syria throughout its nearly 13-year civil war, often claiming to target pro-Iran militias such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah group that supports the Syrian army.
The strikes have increased since October 7, when Palestinian Hamas militants launched an unprecedented, large-scale attack on Israeli territory that prompted significant retaliation.
While it rarely comments on strikes attributed to it in Syria, Israel has repeatedly warned that it would not tolerate its arch-rival Iran gaining a foothold there.
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