15 dead in Syria’s capital
Damascus mourns Israel’s deadliest attack in years
02/19/2023, 6:50 p.m
For years, Israel has regularly attacked targets in neighboring Syria. The strikes are aimed at Iranian supporters of the Syrian regime and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia, who are threatening Israel, including this time. Last night’s attack was arguably the bloodiest since the Syrian civil war began.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 15 people were killed in an Israeli rocket attack on the Syrian capital Damascus, including two civilians. The airstrike targeted “several sectors in and around Damascus, including residential areas,” according to the Syrian Defense Ministry. Syria and its allies Iran and Russia strongly condemned the attack.
The attack on Sunday night was aimed at the Kafr Susa district, which houses a large part of the Syrian state security apparatus and the Syrian secret service. According to the Syrian Observatory, it was probably for a meeting attended by officers of the Syrian government. A ten-storey skyscraper near an Iranian cultural center was badly damaged. A large crater gapes in the street in front of the building. According to the Syrian Observatory, further shells hit a warehouse near Damascus operated by the Lebanese Hezbollah militia.
According to the activists, this is Israel’s deadliest attack on the Syrian capital since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011. The UK-based observatory relies on a network of activists on the ground and its information is independently sourced difficult to verify.
Netanyahu: Do not allow Iranian presence on northern border
An Israeli army spokesman declined to comment on the incident when asked by AFP. Israel regularly flies airstrikes in Syria, particularly against pro-Iranian militias supporting the government of ruler Bashar al-Assad. However, residential areas in Damascus are rarely hit. Since the beginning of the civil war, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes against the neighboring country.
The Syrian Defense Ministry confirmed the night attack. The death toll was initially given as five, including one soldier. 15 other people were injured. The Syrian army intercepted several projectiles. Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad described the attack as a “crime against humanity” and pointed out that Syria is currently having to deal with the consequences of the devastating earthquake in the Turkish-Syrian border area almost two weeks ago. The spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry also condemned the Israeli attacks. Damascus-allied Russia also slammed the attacks and called on Israel to end “provocations” against Syria that could endanger “the entire region.”
The Syrian government of ruler al-Assad is supported militarily by Iran and Hezbollah. Israel rarely comments specifically on its airstrikes in Syria, but has repeatedly stressed that it will not allow Iran to extend its sphere of influence to the Israeli border. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the weekly cabinet meeting: “We will not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons and we will not allow it to settle on our northern border” – without specifically mentioning the airstrikes.