Beirut: Israeli airstrikes in central Syria have left at least seven people dead late Sunday, including three civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a war monitor. The attack, which took place in the Masyaf region, also claimed the lives of four unidentified soldiers, with 15 others wounded and several military facilities destroyed.
The Britain-based SOHR reported that among the civilians killed were a man and his son, who were traveling in a car at the time of the strikes. “Thirteen violent explosions rang out in the zone housing scientific research centres in Masyaf, where pro-Iranian groups and weapons development experts are present,” SOHR said. The Syrian state news agency previously reported five dead and 19 wounded, citing a medical source.
At the end of August, three pro-Iranian fighters were killed in the central region of Homs in strikes attributed to Israel, the Observatory said. The Israeli air raid targeted several military sites in the central region of Syria, with Syrian air defence systems reportedly intercepting some of the missiles. Israeli authorities have not commented on the strike but have consistently maintained that they will not tolerate Iran’s presence in Syria.
This latest strike comes amid heightened tensions following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, which has led to an escalation of Israeli military activity in the region.
