Casualties in Syria after suspected Israeli airstrike

A suspected Israeli airstrike in Syria led to casualties on Wednesday as regional tensions continue to flare up.

Syria’s official news agency, SANA, reported that Israel fired missiles toward targets near Damascus at around 12:25 a.m. local time, causing material damage. SANA said two soldiers were injured, though another report by the outlet said two soldiers were killed.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights NGO reported that the strikes destroyed military and logistics equipment used by Iran-backed militias near al-Dimass and al-Saboura west of Damascus. Two non-Syrian members of an unspecified Iran-backed group were killed, along with one Syrian soldier. Lebanon’s Hezbollah has a presence in the targeted areas, according to the observatory.

Background: Israel is suspected of carrying out regular military strikes throughout Syria, though Israel usually does not confirm this. On July 2, Syria said Israeli airstrikes near the central city of Homs caused material damage. A suspected Israeli missile attack also injured a Syrian soldier in June.

The strikes target both the Syrian military and its Iran-backed allies, including the Lebanese military organization Hezbollah.

Why it matters: Though such strikes are common, Wednesday’s attack comes at a particularly tense time between Israel and its neighbors. Last week, three Hezbollah members were injured in an explosion near the Israel-Lebanon border. This followed a dispute between Israel and Hezbollah over the border town of Ghajjar.

Meanwhile, Israeli settler violence against Palestinians, Israeli military raids, and Palestinian attacks on Israeli forces and civilians are continuing in the West Bank. Al-Monitor’s Ben Caspit wrote last month that the Israeli government is at risk of losing control of both the situation in the Palestinian territory and on the Lebanese border.