Israel 18 air strikes against Syria leave 23 dead

The Israeli air force launched an attack against eastern Syria leaving 21 Syrian army and its allied forces and 2 civilians dead.

According to a statement made by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Israeli air force carried out 18 air strikes on Tuesday night. A total of 21 military personnel and 2 civilians, were killed. It is understood that 16 of the soldiers were non-Syrians. The attacks were launched in the region between Deir Ezzor in the east to the Bukemal desert on the Syrian-Iraqi border. In a previous balance sheet, it was stated that 5 Syrian soldiers and 11 members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Lebanon Hezbollah and Fatimid Brigade died.

The official news agency stated that the Israeli forces carried out an attack during the night, but did not give any further detail.

It was reported that the attack took place around 1.10 o'clock.

In the last week, Israel had launched a previous attack. On 7 January 3 pro-Iranian militia members died in the attacks targeting southern Syria and southern Damascus.

According to the annual report published by the Israeli army at the end of 2020, around 50 points were attacked in Syria throughout the year.

Hundreds of air strikes have been carried out by Israel since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011. Government forces, groups in alliance with Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah were targeted in these attacks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last November that these air strikes were Israel's "clear policy".

The Israeli state especially considers the existence of Iranian forces in the region as a threat.