(Beirut) At least 42 Syrian soldiers and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters were killed in Israeli strikes on Friday in Aleppo, in northern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).
Israel has intensified its strikes in Syria since the start of the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, notably targeting positions of Hezbollah, an ally of the Palestinian movement, the Syrian regime and Iran, all sworn enemies of Israel .
At the same time, Israel and the Lebanese movement have engaged in daily exchanges of fire along the Israeli-Lebanese border since the start of the war in Gaza, triggered by the Hamas attack carried out on October 7 in Israel.
Six Hezbollah fighters and 36 Syrian soldiers were killed in new Israeli strikes which notably targeted the Lebanese movement’s arms depots at dawn, said this NGO based in the United Kingdom and which has a vast network. from sources in Syria.
Contacted by AFP from Jerusalem about Friday’s strikes, the Israeli army responded “not to comment” on these press reports.
Since the start of the civil war in Syria in 2011, neighboring Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes targeting the Syrian army but also pro-Iranian groups.
Israel, which rarely claims its operations in Syria, says it will not allow Iran to expand its presence in Syria, while Tehran claims to have only sent military advisers there.
A military source cited by the official Syrian agency Sana reported “several deaths and injuries among civilians and soldiers” in Friday’s strikes.
“The Israeli enemy launched an air attack against different sites in Athriya, southeast of Aleppo,” the source said.
According to the OSDH, this is the heaviest toll for the Syrian army in Israeli strikes in Syria since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.
“Violation of sovereignty”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani denounced “a violation of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and a serious threat to regional and international peace and security.”
PHOTO ARCHIVES REUTERS
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
He called the attacks “a blatant and desperate attempt to prolong and expand the crisis in the region.”
Friday’s strikes also targeted factories that fall under the Syrian Defense Ministry in Safira near Aleppo but are currently under the control of pro-Iranian groups, according to the OSDH.
The Israeli army announced in March that it had reached “around 4,500 Hezbollah targets” in Lebanon and Syria, including “more than 1,200” by airstrikes, since the start of the war in Gaza.
On Friday, Hezbollah announced the death of six of its fighters, without specifying where and when.
In Lebanon, a military source reported Friday the death of a Hezbollah official in a strike that it attributed to Israel, on a car in southern Lebanon.
An airstrike targeted a residential building in the suburbs of Damascus on Thursday, killing two civilians, according to the official Syrian news agency Sana, which blamed Israel for the attack.
The targeted area, Sayyida Zeinab, is considered a stronghold of pro-Iranian groups in Syria.
On March 19, Israeli raids had already targeted Hezbollah weapons depots in the vicinity of Damascus.
The war in Syria has killed more than half a million people, displaced millions and divided the country. It was triggered in 2011 by the suppression of an uprising against the Iranian-backed regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
reference: www.lapresse.ca