Israel attacked Hezbollah in Syria and Lebanon: more than 40 people died

Israellaunched deadly cross-border attacks on Hezbollah targets in Syria and Lebanon on Friday, doubling down on Iran-backed enemies and Hamas allies, and fueling concerns that the violence could spark a major regional conflagration.

The Israeli military said it killed the deputy chief of Hezbollah’s rocket unit, Ali Naim, in one of the strikes in southern Lebanon.

In Syria, ‘Israeli strikes’ targeted Hezbollah ‘rocket depot’ in Aleppo province, killing 36 Syrian soldiers, seven Hezbollah members and another pro-Iran fighter, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor.

It was the highest toll by the Syrian army in Israeli strikes since the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, said the monitor, which also reported raids on “defense factories” controlled by pro-Iran groups elsewhere. from the province.

Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes in Syria since the civil war broke out in 2011.targeting mainly Army positions as well as Iranian-backed fighters, including Hezbollah fighters entrenched there for years in support of the Damascus government.

He rarely comments on individual attacks, but raids have increased since the Gaza war began.

In Lebanon, Hezbollah has exchanged fire almost daily with the Israeli Army along the country’s southern border since October, saying it supports Gaza and Hamas militants.

Hezbollah said Friday that seven of its fighters were killed by Israeli fire, without specifying where or when they died. He said one was Naim, but did not specify his role.

“From the Israeli perspective, Syria and Lebanon have become a vast battlefield”Riad Kahwaji, director of the Institute for Military Analysis of the Middle East and the Gulf, told AFP.

“Israeli warplanes strike targets in both countries almost daily in a sustained effort to destroy Hezbollah’s military infrastructure and also tarnish the group’s image,” he said.

“Israeli attacks have clearly increased in size and depth” in Lebanon, he added.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attacks in Aleppo, which it said They killed and wounded “several civilians and soldiers.”

Russia and Iran, allies of Damascus, also criticized the Israeli attacks.

Moscow said they were “categorically unacceptable,” while Iran said they were a “violation of Syria’s sovereignty” and “a serious threat to regional and international peace and security.”

According to Kahwaji, “Syria is the main supply route linking Iran with Hezbollah in Lebanon.”

“Israel has been attacking this supply line and destroying weapons depots and eliminating IRGC leaders in Syria,” he said, referring to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

Syrian state media said “two civilians” were killed in an “Israeli airstrike targeting a residential building” on Thursday.

The Britain-based Observatory said the target was the Sayyida Zeinab area, a stronghold of pro-Iran armed groups including Hezbollah, south of the capital.