4 Syrian soldiers wounded in alleged Israeli air strikes in Damascus

4 Syrian soldiers wounded in alleged Israeli air strikes in Damascus

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Four Syrians soldiers were injured and property damage was reported after an alleged Israeli air strike targeted Damascus on Wednesday night, according to the Syrian state news agency SANA.

The attacks reportedly came from the direction of the Golan Heights and Lebanon, with Lebanese media reporting Israeli aircraft flying over large portions of Lebanon.

A major explosion was heard near the Israeli-Lebanese border during the attacks after a Syrian air defense missile was fired at an Israeli aircraft in the area, according to reporter Ali Shoeib, affiliated with Hezbollah.
The missile crashed near the Lebanese city of Houla, located west of Kiryat Shmona.

Images shared on social media allegedly from the Damascus area have shown major fires, although it remains unclear whether they were caused by Israeli missiles or air defense missiles.

The attacks came after a series of cargo flights between Syria and Iran were reported in recent weeks.

Air strikes are the nine since January, with attacks attributed to Israel recorded in the east, south and west of Syria every month since the beginning of the year.

The latest alleged Israeli air strikes against Syria were reported on March 16, with an alleged Israeli air strike near Damascus, after several cargo flights allegedly traveled between Iran and Syria on the same day.

The Syrian Capital Voice website reported that the attacks targeted a shipment of weapons that arrived at Damascus International Airport earlier in the day. Explosions were also reported after the attacks, according to the news source, who said they were probably caused by the explosion of stored ammunition.

The attacks also come as tensions rise in the region due to a series of reported maritime attacks between Iran and Israel and when Iran meets with European and American officials to discuss a possible return to the Joint Global Action Plan, the name of the nuclear agreement signed in 2015 between the Islamic Republic and world powers.

On Tuesday, the Iranian Saviz, affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, was reportedly attacked with an explosion that slightly damaged the vessel. An American official told the New York Times that Israel told the United States that it was responsible for the attack.

“The civilian ship Saviz was stationed in the Red Sea region and in the Gulf of Aden to establish maritime security along sea routes and to combat piracy,” said an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman on Wednesday. According to the ministry, there was no record of victims.

The United States Naval Institute reported last year that the Saviz, although officially listed as a merchant ship, was probably a secret advanced base for the IRGC. Tasnim confirmed this on Tuesday, saying the ship had been stationed in the Red Sea in recent years to support Iranian commandos escorting commercial ships.

Dozens of attacks have reportedly been carried out by Israel and Iran on each other’s maritime vessels in locations ranging from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf in recent years, according to Maariv, a sister publication of The Jerusalem Post, and The Wall Street Journal.

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