At least 42 Syrian soldiers and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters were killed in Israeli strikes on Friday March 29 in Aleppo, in northern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH). 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.
Six Hezbollah fighters and 36 Syrian soldiers were killed in these new Israeli strikes, which notably targeted the arms depots of the pro-Iranian Lebanese movement at dawn, said this NGO based in the United Kingdom and which has a vast network of sources in Syria. The strikes also targeted factories that fall under the Syrian Defense Ministry in Al-Safira, near Aleppo, but are currently under the control of pro-Iranian groups, according to the OSDH.
Since the start of the civil war in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes targeting the Syrian army but also pro-Iranian groups fighting alongside the Damascus regime. The Israeli army has intensified its strikes since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023. At the same time, Israel and Hezbollah have engaged in daily exchanges of fire along the Israeli-Lebanese border since the start of the war in Gaza. Gaza.
Two civilians killed Thursday near Damascus
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.
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 is limited to that of military advisers.
An airstrike had already targeted a residential building in the suburbs of Damascus on Thursday, killing two civilians, according to 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 airstrikes since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip.