Damascus International Airport was put out of service on Monday January 2 by Israeli strikes, which killed four people, including two Syrian soldiers, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).
It is the second time in less than seven months that Damascus airport, where Iranian-backed armed groups and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters are present, has been taken out of use by Israel.
“
Four fighters, including two Syrian soldiers, were killed by the Israeli bombardment,
” Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the UK-based OSDH, told AFP.
He was unable to specify the nationality of the other two killed.
Two soldiers killed
The official Syrian agency Sana, citing a military source, for its part affirmed that two Syrian soldiers had died in this attack, which took place on Monday January 2 around 02:00 (00:00 Paris time).
"
The Israeli enemy carried out an air assault using a barrage of missiles, targeting Damascus International Airport and its surroundings
", and causing "
the death of two soldiers, the wounding of two others
" and property damage, the agency said.
The airport is "
out of service
", she added.
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According to the head of the OSDH, the Israeli attack targeted "
positions of Hezbollah and pro-Iranian groups in the airport and its surroundings, including an arms depot
".
Since the beginning of the civil war in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in its neighbor, targeting positions of the Syrian army, pro-Iranian forces and Lebanese Hezbollah.
The Jewish state rarely comments on its strikes against Syria but says it will not allow Iran to expand its influence in Syria.
On December 28, the head of the Israeli army's operations directorate, Major General Oded Basiuk, spoke about these raids in Syria when presenting his operational outlook for 2023. "
We see that our action plan in Syria is an example of how continuous and persistent military action leads to shaping and influencing the entire region
,” the IDF tweeted when reporting on General Basiuk's presentation.
“
We will not accept a Hezbollah 2.0 in Syria
,” added the Israeli army.
Before dawn on June 10, the Israeli air force had already bombed the airport located in the south of the Syrian capital, putting the airstrips out of service for nearly two weeks.
Aleppo airport, the second largest in the country, also had to close for several days in September following Israeli raids.
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Triggered by the repression of pro-democracy demonstrations, the war in Syria has claimed around 500,000 lives, devastated the country's infrastructure and displaced millions of people.
After years of bloody fighting and shelling, the conflict has largely subsided over the past three years.
Sporadic fighting sometimes breaks out, and jihadist attacks continue, mainly in the east of the country.
According to the OSDH, which relies on an extensive network of sources in Syria, the conflict left at least 3,825 dead in 2022 - the lowest number since 2011 - compared to 3,882 in 2021. Among the dead last year are 1,627 civilians, including 321 children.