According to reports, early Friday morning Israeli air strikes in Syria’s Aleppo resulted in the deaths of 33 people, comprised of civilians and military personnel. Among the fatalities were five fighters from Hizbullah.
The Syrian defence ministry reported on that Friday that the attacks launched on Aleppo by Israel and militant groups had led to multiple civilian and military casualties. Various parts of Aleppo’s countryside were targeted by the Israeli air strikes around 1.45am local time, as mentioned in their statement.
Concurrently, drone attacks aimed at civilians in Aleppo and its surroundings were carried out from Idlib and western rural Aleppo. According to the defence ministry in Syria, these were conducted by “terrorist organisations”.
The statement read: “This aggression has led to the death and injury of various civilians and military personnel and inflicted substantial losses on public and private property.”
Nonetheless, the Israeli military refrained from commenting on the situation. Post a Hamas attack on Israeli civilians and soldiers on October 7th, Israel has amplified its attacks on bases it alleges to be supported by Iranian-backed militia in Syria. This also includes the Syrian army air defences and certain Syrian forces.
Israel has for a while been initiating such attacks in Syria, especially since Iran’s power has escalated there since it started support for President Bashar al-Assad during the 2011 civil war.
Currently, fighters aligned with Iran, like Hizbullah, control large sectors in eastern, southern and northwestern Syria, including several suburbs around the capital.
Following the outbreak of war in Gaza, Israel and Hizbullah have been exchanging fire along the Israel-Lebanon border, representing the most serious escalation since their one-month conflict back in 2006. – Reuters.