Fifty-two members of Lebanese Hezbollah were killed in strikes attributed to Israel on Friday in Aleppo, in northern Syria, according to a new report on Saturday from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH). “The death toll from Israeli strikes (…) rose to 52 dead: 38 members of the (Syrian) regime forces, seven from Lebanese Hezbollah and seven Syrians who are members of pro-Iranian groups,” said this NGO based in the United Kingdom. United and which has a vast network of sources in Syria.
The heaviest death toll since October 7
The strikes targeted “a rocket depot belonging to Hezbollah” in northern Aleppo, according to the same source. According to the OSDH, this is the heaviest toll for the Syrian army in Israeli strikes since the start of the war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist movement on October 7. The Israeli army did not comment on the strikes in Syria, but said it had killed the “deputy commander of Hezbollah’s rocket and missile unit”, Ali Naim, in southern Lebanon in an airstrike.
Israel and the Shiite movement engage in daily exchanges of fire along the Israeli-Lebanese border. Since the outbreak of war in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes targeting the army and pro-Iranian groups, including Hezbollah, a supporter of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
The second attack on Syria in 24 hours
Friday’s attack is the second against Syria in 24 hours, after a first Israeli strike killed two civilians, according to the official Syrian agency. Hezbollah claimed several attacks against Israeli positions on Friday, notably “in response to attacks by the Israeli enemy in Damascus and Aleppo.”
For his part, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said he visited northern Israel on Friday “to get an overview of the actions being taken to prepare for more eliminations and actions – in Lebanon , in Syria and elsewhere. The Israeli army announced this month that it had hit “around 4,500 Hezbollah targets” in Lebanon and Syria since the start of the Gaza war.