BEIRUT (AP) – Israeli airstrikes hit several parts of Syria’s Homs province early Sunday morning, injuring five soldiers, Syrian state media reported.
In Iran, state media reported that an Iranian adviser who was wounded in an Israeli attack on Friday died from his injuries. Advocate and adviser since the early days of the war.
Sunday’s strike marked the ninth time Israel has struck targets in Syria since the beginning of the year, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war watchdog.
State news agency SANA, citing military sources, said the attack was aimed at the city of Homs and the surrounding countryside. Syrian air defenses intercepted the missiles and shot down some of them, the report said.
The Observatory reported that the missiles targeted Syrian military installations and Iranian-affiliated militia installations, including a research center.
There was no immediate comment from Israel regarding the strike.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not directly mention the strike at Sunday’s ministerial meeting, but said Israel is acting against foreign threats.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said the major domestic crisis over his government’s plans to reform the judicial system has not affected Israel’s ability to strike. “Israel’s civil war will not undermine our determination, intensity and ability to act against our enemies anywhere, anytime and on all fronts,” he said.
Reserves have vowed not to show up for duty while the overhaul is in progress, prompting military and defense officials to warn of the damage to military capabilities. Netanyahu has paused overhauls for now.
Israel has carried out hundreds of attacks against government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, including attacks on Damascus and Aleppo airports, but rarely acknowledges specific operations.
Israel says it is targeting bases of militant groups allied with Iran, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to support Assad’s forces. An Israeli airstrike hit a suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus on Friday, killing an Iranian adviser, Syrian-Iranian state media reported. Iranian state television reported on Friday that Iranian military adviser Milad Heydari was killed in a “criminal attack” by Israel.
Iranian state media reported Sunday that another of his IRGC advisers, injured in Friday’s strike, succumbed to his wounds. Iranian state television identified the adviser as Megdad Maghani, adding that his funeral will be held in Damascus on Sunday.
It was closed for two days due to Israeli airstrikes at Aleppo airport last month. The airport has been a major transit route for relief supplies since the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey on February 6.
Israel has also attacked government-held regional ports in Syria in an apparent attempt to block Iranian arms shipments to Tehran-backed militant groups, including Hezbollah.
