Syrian state media reported suspected Israeli strikes early Tuesday morning local time in the capital Damascus, as tensions between Iran and Israel continue to play out in the country.
Syria’s official news outlet SANA reported that “Israel’s enemies” fired missiles from the Golan Heights at unspecified targets near Damascus at 12:15 local time (5:15 p.m. ET Monday). Syrian air defenses intercepted some of the missiles, but two civilians were killed, according to SANA.
The outlet obtained footage showing the attack.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes targeted Damascus airport, an Iranian compound near Set Zaynab outside Damascus, and a factory in Al Kiswah, also near Damascus.
Why it’s important: Syria regularly reports Israeli strikes across its territory, although Israel rarely confirms this. Israeli strikes have been aimed at Syrian and Iranian military targets and have been ongoing for years, but attacks have increased recently. The following is a breakdown of suspected Israeli strikes on Syria over the past week.
- March 30: Israeli missile strikes injured two Syrian soldiers near Damascus, according to SANA.
- March 31: Two officers in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were killed in Israeli missile strikes near Damascus, the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency reported.
- April 2: Israeli missiles hit an arms warehouse in central Homs city, killing two Iranian-backed militia members, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Israeli Defense Forces said later in the day that they shot down an unidentified flying object from Syria.
Other Israeli strikes in Syria were suspected earlier in March, and also in January and February.
The Iranian government vowed revenge after the death of the IRGC officer.
More information: The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is making significant progress in his efforts to politically rehabilitate the region after years of war. More recently, Saudi Arabia has stepped up its engagement with Syria after resuming formal relations with Assad’s ally, Iran.
