At least two soldiers died and three others were wounded in Syria after Israeli airstrikes that targeted an air base in the central province of Homs.
On Sunday, the state-controlled news agency SANA said that Syrian air defenses, in response to the airstrikes, defended against hostile targets over southeastern Homs province. The news agency, citing a military source, said that the attacks struck the Shayrat Airbase and resulted in casualties and damage.
Israeli Airstrike
Footage also showed air defenses intercepting what authorities called missiles of an Israeli aggression. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that powerful blasts were heard when four Israeli missiles struck the air base in Homs. It also said that the attacks targeted the positions of Iran-backed fighters who were in the area.
The missile strikes were reported after Israeli warplanes were witnessed flying over neighboring Lebanon, whose airspace Israel sometimes crosses to carry out attacks on Syrian infrastructure. Israel has also carried out hundreds of strikes targeting parties inside government-controlled parts of the region in recent years, as per Al Jazeera.
However, Israel has acknowledged that its attacks have targeted bases of Iran-allied armed groups, including Lebanon's Hezbollah. The latter has deployed thousands of fighters to support Syrian President Basha al-Assad's military personnel.
Airstrikes in eastern Syria on Tuesday along the border with Iraq targeted Iran-backed fighters and inflicted several casualties, said Syrian opposition activists. Two paramilitary officers in Iraq said that some of the people killed in the attacks were Iranian nationals.
According to Reuters, a spokesperson for the Israeli military, when asked about the airstrike, declined to comment on foreign reports. Before the attack, the runway and underground facilities at Shayrat, including aircraft shelters, underwent a major expansion by the Russian military about three years ago.
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Years of Fighting Between Israel, Syria
Moscow, which has continued to maintain a major military presence in Syria, has forces deployed near the Shayray airbase and sometimes makes use of it, said security sources. In recent months, regional and intelligence sources said that Israel has intensified strikes on Syrian airports and air bases.
The attacks aim to disrupt Iran's increasing use of aerial supply lines to deliver arms to its allies located in Syria and Lebanon. Opposition military also said that Iranian militias hold sway in large portions of the western Homs province and have powerful bases.
For several years, Israel has been exchanging attacks in Syria against what it described as Iranian and Iran-backed forces that were deployed in the area amid the war, which began more than a decade ago.
Israel has, in recent months, found itself at odds with Russia as it continues to support Ukraine while seeking to maintain freedom of movement in Syria's airspace. In a similar incident in June, Israeli attacks put Damascus' airport out of service for half a month, the Times of Israel reported.
The latest strike also occurred only a few days after Israeli missiles struck a convoy near the Syria-Iraq border that reportedly left at least 10 people dead. The fatalities included a number of Iranian fighters.
