Israeli strikes reported in Damascus, 2 weeks after quake

DAMASCUS: Israeli airstrikes targeted a residential neighborhood in central Damascus early on Sunday (Feb 19), Syrian state news reported.

Syrian state media agency SANA, citing a source in the Damascus police command, reported that an unspecified number of people had been killed and wounded.

Loud explosions were heard over the capital around 12.30am local time, and SANA reported that Syrian air defenses were “confronting hostile targets in the sky around Damascus".

There was no immediate statement from Israel on the attack. Israeli airstrikes frequently target sites in the vicinity of Damascus.

The Saturday night strikes were the first since a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Türkiye and Syria on Feb 6.

The last reported attack on Damascus was on Jan 2, when the Syrian army reported that Israel’s military fired missiles toward the international airport of Syria’s capital early on Monday, putting it out of service and killing two soldiers and wounding two others.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, but rarely acknowledges or discusses the operations.

Israel has acknowledged, however, that it targets bases of Iran-allied militant groups, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to support Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.

The Israeli strikes come amid a wider shadow war between Israel and Iran. The attacks on airports in Damascus and Aleppo were over fears they were being used to funnel Iranian weaponry into the country.