an Israeli raid targeted the surroundings of Damascus, the first since the end of March

During the night of Sunday May 28 to Monday May 29, Israeli strikes targeted positions of the Syrian army’s anti-aircraft forces where Lebanese Hezbollah fighters are also deployed, injuring five, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Man (OSDH).

The Syrian Defense Ministry said overnight that a “Israeli aggression” had aimed “positions in the vicinity of Damascus”, reporting loud explosions heard in the capital. The anti-aircraft defense went into action and was able to “shoot down several missiles”, added the ministry, without mentioning a victim.

North of Damascus

According to the Observatory, the Israeli raids twice targeted Syrian anti-aircraft defense positions in which pro-Iranian Hezbollah fighters are also stationed. These positions are located north of Damascus, about ten kilometers from the border with Lebanon, said the OSDH. Anti-aircraft batteries located between Damascus International Airport and Sayyida Zeinab, an important Shiite pilgrimage site southeast of the capital where pro-Iranian fighters are heavily deployed, were also targeted, according to the same source.

These are the first strikes on Damascus since the end of March. The latest Israeli raids on Syria targeted the north of the country on May 2, killing seven. Since the beginning of the war in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes against regime positions as well as Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah forces, allies of Damascus and sworn enemies of Israel.