Agencies
Damascus/Gaza
The death toll from Israeli strikes targeting pro-Iranian militia in the Syrian western-central province of Hama, has risen to 25, a monitor group reported on Monday.
“Twenty five people, including five civilians, were killed,” the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. It said that among the dead were four from the Syrian government forces, two Syrians working for the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, 11 working with Iranian militias, and three unidentified people.
It added that at least 32 others were injured, as a result of the intense Israeli raids which targeted positions in the city Masyaf and areas south-west of there.
Some of the targeted posts were used by officers from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to develop precise short- and medium-range missiles, and during the current year they started developing drones, the rights monitor said.
The raids resulted in the destruction of a number of buildings and military centres, and the outbreak of fires in forest areas on the Masyaf road, it added. The state-run Syrian News Agency (SANA) also updated its death toll to 16 and said 36 were injured.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the attack on its territory and affirmed its right to defend its territorial sovereignty. Strikes late on Sunday targeted a number of military sites in Hama. The country’s defence systems intercepted and shot down some of them, it said.
There has been so far no comment from Israel on the strikes.
Israel has been bombing targets in Syria to prevent Iran and its allied militias from expanding their military influence in the war-torn country.
Israeli attacks on Syria have increased since the Gaza war began on October 7.
Israeli missiles have killed at least 18 people in central Syria, and dozens have been wounded, the health minister earlier said. A military source told the state-controlled SANA news agency that “at around 23:20 [20:20 GMT] on Sunday evening, the Israeli enemy launched an air aggression from the direction of northwestern Lebanon, targeting a number of military sites in the central region [of Syria].”
Meanwhile, at least 20 people, including children, have been killed and dozens more wounded as Israel carries out air raids across the Gaza Strip.
At least 40,988 people have been killed and 94,825 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has said 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza are still in “urgent” need of food and livelihood assistance as Israeli attacks on the enclave enter their 12th month.
More than 630,000 students in Gaza will not be returning to school on Monday, officials said, as Israel’s war on the Palestinian territory disrupts schooling for a second year.
