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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syria says three soldiers killed in Israeli strikes near Damascus

2022-02-24

[IsraelTimes] State media claims most missiles shot down by air defenses, hours after Israel warns Syrian troops near border that they will be targeted for working with Hezbollah.

Three Syrian soldiers were killed on Thursday morning in an Israeli air strike near the capital Damascus, Syria’s state media said.

The alleged strike came hours after Israel apparently dropped leaflets on Syrian army positions warning that they could be targeted for collaborating with Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah.

"The Israeli enemy carried out an air assault with several missiles," state media SANA reported, adding three soldiers were killed.

There was also unspecified material damage, it said.

It claimed Syrian air defense intercepted most of the missiles in the attack, which occurred about 1:10 a.m.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has an extensive network of sources in across the country, reported that explosions were heard in Damascus and its suburbs "after the interception of Israeli missiles by the Syrian regime’s anti-aircraft defense."

Video published by SANA purported to show a missile being shot down.

As a rule, Israel’s military does not comment on specific strikes in Syria, but has admitted to conducting hundreds of sorties against Iran-backed groups attempting to gain a foothold in the country.

Early Wednesday morning, Israel allegedly fired surface-to-surface missiles at an observation post and "finance building" near the border town of Quneitra on the Syrian Golan Heights.

Israel later dropped leaflets on the area warning Syrian soldiers that they could be targeted for working with Hezbollah.

"To the leaders and members of the Syrian army, we have warned you and continue to warn you, we will not stop as long as your cooperation with Hezbollah continues" the flyer read.

The flyer named the Hezbollah official that the IDF believes is facilitating the relationship between the Iran-backed terror group and the Syrian military, Jawad Hasham, the son of Hajj Hasham, who leads Hezbollah’s efforts along the Syrian border.

Strikes this month attributed to Israel also targeted a Syrian military post on February 17 and anti-aircraft batteries at the start of the month.

Another Times of Israel article adds:

The flyers, which were written in Arabic and addressed to “Syrian [Arab] Army soldiers,” matched the style of similar leaflets that have been dropped in Syria in the past and included the silhouette of an eagle — the symbol of the IDF’s 210th “Bashan” Division, which is tasked with defending Israel’s frontier with Syria and the Golan Heights. The IDF refused to comment on the matter.

In the pamphlet, the Israeli military appeared to take responsibility for the overnight strikes. The IDF generally does not publicly acknowledge strikes it has carried out in Syria in recent years, under its general policy of ambiguity regarding its efforts against Hezbollah in the country.

“To the leaders and members of the Syrian army, we have warned you and continue to warn you, we will not stop as long as your cooperation with Hezbollah continues” the flyer reads.

The flyer said Syrian soldiers “repeatedly” allowed Hajj Jawad Hashem “to breach the infrastructure of the Syrian army, including… in the finance building and Rwihinah base,” where the overnight strikes took place.

“Those who cooperate with Hezbollah… are targets,” it warns.

The IDF has repeatedly accused Syrian dictator Bashar Assad’s military of actively assisting Hezbollah and warned it against this, both through flyers dropped along the border and through overt, public appeals, in some cases naming the Syrian and Hezbollah officials involved, including officers from Syria’s 90th Brigade and 1st Division.

Posted by:trailing wife

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