A convoy carrying humanitarian aid arrives in Syria after crossing the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey, on July 10, 2023
A convoy carrying humanitarian aid arrives in Syria after crossing the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey, on July 10, 2023 (PHOTO: AFP) AFP

KEY POINTS

  • The Syrian military said Saturday that Israeli strikes hit several sites on the outskirts of the capital
  • "Some material losses" were caused in what was the second such attack in less than a day
  • Syrian air defenses were able to intercept some of the incoming projectiles

The Syrian military said Saturday that Israeli airstrikes hit multiple locations on the outskirts of Damascus, the capital of Syria.

Citing an unnamed military official, Syrian state news agency SANA reported that the strikes were launched from the direction of the Golan Heights, which is currently under Israeli control. Syrian air defenses were able to intercept some of the incoming projectiles, but those that hit targets caused "some material losses," the report added, according to AP News.

This is the second such attack in less than a day. Another attack had originated from the Golan Heights on Friday, Syria said but did not explicitly pin the responsibility for the incident on Israel, reports say.

Syrian air defenses downed two drones in the western outskirts of Damascus during the Friday attack.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based war monitor, reported Saturday that three people were killed after an Israeli airstrike hit an area west of Damascus after midnight. The death toll is likely to increase, the report said and also noted that this is the 10th such attack on Syria since the beginning of 2024.

Israeli attacks on Iranian-backed militia targets have escalated since the war broke out in Gaza in October.

The U.S. also carried out retaliatory strikes on Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria in response to the attack in Jordan that killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded more than 40 others.

Iraqi officials condemned the U.S. attacks last week and said the strikes had killed 16 people including civilians, according to Reuters.

Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reportedly said the strikes in Syria had killed 23 people who had been guarding the targeted locations.

The U.S. attacks represented "another adventurous and strategic mistake by the United States that will result only in increased tension in instability in the region," Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in a statement following the U.S. airstrikes on Iraq and Syria.

Israel