Five Syrian soldiers were injured during the latest Israeli airstrike on Syria, as reported by Syrian state news agency Sana on Sunday. In addition, Iran announced the deaths of two Revolutionary Guards officers in previous attacks.
Israel has carried out numerous airstrikes on Syrian territory over the past decade, mainly targeting Iranian-backed forces, Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, and positions of the Syrian army.
Sunday's early morning strike near the western city of Homs marked Israel's third in recent days, following attacks on the capital, Damascus, on the nights of March 30 and 31, as stated by the agency.
Sana cited a military source, stating, "The Israeli enemy carried out an air assault ... targeting positions in the city of Homs and its province."
According to Sana, Syria's air defenses intercepted several missiles, resulting in the injury of five soldiers and some material damage.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the strikes targeted positions of the Syrian government forces and pro-Iran groups. Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the observatory, mentioned that in addition to the injured Syrian soldiers, several Iran-affiliated fighters were killed in an attack on a research center.
Rahman also revealed that "an arms depot belonging to Lebanese Hezbollah forces in the military airport of Dabaa, in the south-western sector of Homs, was destroyed."
Syrian state media reported that Israel launched "several missiles from the occupied Golan Heights" against positions near Damascus on Friday. The observatory claimed that the missiles targeted a weapons and ammunition depot belonging to the Syrian military and pro-Iran groups.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' website, Sepahnews, reported on Friday that officer Milad Heidari was killed. On Sunday, the same website announced that Meghdad Mahghani, a military adviser injured in the same attack, had "attained the high rank of martyrdom."
Israel rarely discusses the strikes it conducts on Syria but has consistently maintained that it will not permit its main adversary, Iran, to expand its presence in the country.
Following Sunday's airstrike, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented, "We are exacting a high price from the regimes that support terrorism beyond Israel's borders. I suggest that our enemies not err."
