At least 42 Syrian soldiers and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters were killed in Israeli strikes on Friday in Aleppo, in northern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH). Six Hezbollah fighters and 36 Syrian soldiers were killed in new Israeli strikes which notably targeted the arms depots of the Lebanese pro-Iranian movement at dawn, said this NGO based in the United Kingdom and which has a vast network of sources in Syria.
Since the start of the civil war in Syria in 2011, neighboring Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes targeting the Syrian army but also pro-Iranian groups fighting alongside the Damascus regime. A military source cited by the official Syrian agency Sana reported “several deaths and injuries among civilians and soldiers” in Friday's strikes. “The Israeli enemy launched an air attack against different sites in Athriya, southeast of Aleppo,” the source said.
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Heaviest death toll in Syria since October 7
According to the OSDH, this is the heaviest toll for the Syrian army in Israeli strikes in Syria since the start of the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which began almost six months ago. Contacted by AFP from Jerusalem about Friday's strikes, the Israeli army responded “not to comment” on these press reports.
Israel has intensified its strikes in Syria since the start of the Gaza war. At the same time, Israel and Hezbollah have engaged in daily exchanges of fire along the Israeli-Lebanese border since the start of the Gaza war.
Friday's strikes also targeted factories that fall under the Syrian Defense Ministry in Safira near Aleppo but are currently under the control of pro-Iranian groups, according to the OSDH.
Two dead near Damascus
The war in Syria has killed more than half a million people, displaced millions and divided the country. It was triggered in 2011 by the suppression of an uprising against the Iranian-backed regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Iran says its presence in Syria is limited to that of military advisers. Lebanese Hezbollah sent fighters to Syria to support Damascus and protect its supply lines with Iran, and has continued to operate in Syria since then.
An airstrike had already targeted a residential building in the suburbs of Damascus on Thursday, killing two civilians, according to the official Syrian news agency Sana, which blamed Israel for the attack. The targeted area, Sayyida Zeinab, is considered a stronghold of pro-Iranian groups in Syria. On March 19, Israeli raids had already targeted Hezbollah weapons depots in the vicinity of Damascus. The Israeli army announced in March that it had reached “around 4,500 Hezbollah targets” in Lebanon and Syria, including “more than 1,200” by air strikes, since the start of the war in Gaza.