At least 42 Syrian soldiers and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters were killed in Israeli strikes this Friday in Aleppo in northern Syria, according to a new report from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in the United Kingdom and which has a vast network of sources in Syria, the strike this Friday in Aleppo in Syria notably targeted "missile depots falling under the Lebanese Hezbollah” which fights alongside the Syrian regime.
In a previous report, this NGO estimated that this was “the heaviest for the Syrian army in Israeli strikes since the start of the war in Gaza almost six months ago”.
Intense Israeli airstrikes last night hit the northern #Syrian city of Aleppo, killing dozens of Syrian civilians and soldiers, local media reported. pic.twitter.com/oBPF2hcmyg
— Monica φ 🇵🇸🖤 ❤️ 💚 (@MANOUCHKYA) March 29, 2024
For its part, a military source cited by the official Syrian agency Sana reported “several killed and injured among civilians and soldiers” in the strikes. “The Israeli enemy launched an air attack against different sites in Athriya, southeast of Aleppo.”
The strikes also targeted factories that fall under the Syrian Ministry of Defense in Safira near Aleppo but are currently under the control of pro-Iranian groups, according to the OSDH. Since the start of the war, the Israeli army has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria, particularly targeting pro-Iranian groups.
Two dead near Damascus
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.
The war in Syria has killed more than half a million people, displaced millions and divided the country. The conflict began in 2011 with an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. It quickly descended into civil war after the regime, backed by Iran, launched a fierce crackdown on dissidents.
Lebanese Hezbollah sent fighters to Syria to support its ally and protect its supply lines with Iran, and has continued to operate in the country since then. Iran denies sending troops to fight alongside Bashar al-Assad's regime, saying its presence there is limited to that of military advisers.