Agencies
Damascus/Beirut
At least 15 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on residential buildings in Damascus, Syrian state media reported.
“The Israeli enemy launched an air aggression from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan [Heights], targeting residential buildings in the Mazzeh neighbourhood of Damascus and the Qudssaya area in the Damascus countryside, killing 15 people and injuring 16 others,” the ministry said on Thursday, adding that the death toll could rise.
The Israeli military said it carried out air strikes targeting several buildings and command centres belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad armed group.
The strikes are a “significant blow” to the Gaza-based group and its operatives, the Israeli army statement says on Telegram.
An official with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Group told The Associated Press news agency the strike in Mazzeh targeted one of the group’s offices, and that several members of the group were killed.
“[The Palestinian Islamic Jihad] is a Gaza-based group, a group that participated along with Hamas in the October 7 attacks in Israel last year,” Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford said, reporting from Beirut.
“In the last few weeks or so, there has been an escalation in Israel targeting infrastructure and according to Israel, Hezbollah-related targets in Syria. Certainly, this is the first time in a long while, that Palestinian Islamic Jihad is targeted,” he added.
The Israeli military also attacked the southern suburbs of Beirut, seen as a stronghold of Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah, with at least four airstrikes on Thursday, according to a DPA reporter who witnessed them.
Clouds of black smoke rose into the sky after the explosions, according to the reporter. State news agency NNA said there were at least six strikes.
After an evacuation order was issued by the Israeli military ahead of the strikes, some residents fired shots into the air to warn others of the impending attacks, leading many to flee.
“You are in the vicinity of Hezbollah facilities and interests,” an Israeli military spokesman said in its warning to locals. Residents were told to move at least 500 metres away from buildings marked in red on an Israeli map issued by the military.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it attacked weapons depots and Hezbollah command centres from the air in the Dahiya neighbourhood.
More than 3,300 people have been killed and 14,300 injured in Israel’s war on Hezbollah, according to Lebanese officials.
