Fifteen killed in Israeli strikes on Damascus, Syrian state media say

Fifteen people were killed and 16 others injured in Israeli strikes on Damascus in Syria, state media SANA said, citing a military source and marking one of the deadliest strikes in months to hit the Syrian capital.

The strikes targeted several residential buildings in the upscale Mezzah neighborhood in the capital and the Qudsaya area in the Damascus countryside, Syrian state media reported. Among those killed were women and children, Syrian state media added.

The Israeli military said in a statement it was striking Islamic Jihad in Syria earlier Thursday and had “inflicted significant damage to the terrorist organization’s command center and to its operatives.” Islamic Jihad is the second-largest militant group in Gaza.

Syrian state media said: “The Israeli enemy launched an aerial attack from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting several residential buildings in the Mezzah neighborhood of Damascus and the Qudsaya area in the Damascus countryside.

“This resulted in the martyrdom of fifteen people and the injury of sixteen others, including women and children, as an initial toll, along with significant material damage to private property and the targeted and neighboring buildings,” Syrian state media said.

Islamic Jihad said the strike killed “a group” of its members in a statement Thursday, but did not specify how many were killed.

The group denied Israel’s claims that the strike “targeted military headquarters and centers belonging to the movement,” and instead said the strike hit civilian institutions and residential homes.

Syria’s foreign ministry condemned the strikes on Thursday, calling them “brutal crimes,” SANA reported.

The statement outlined that the attacks on Syria came just two days after the Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh issued a “broad condemnation of (Israel’s) brutal and escalating aggression on Syrian territory,” according to SANA.

The latest assault come after Israeli airstrikes intensified in Syria over the weekend, killing at least seven civilians and leaving 20 injured, according to Syrian state news agency SANA.

The strikes targeted a residential building in the Sayyidah Zaynab area of the Damascus countryside, with women and children among those killed, SANA said.

The Sayyidah Zaynab area, south of Damascus city, is known to have a Hezbollah presence and has come under attack from Israel in recent weeks. On November 4, SANA reported Israeli strikes in Sayyidah Zaynab the same day the IDF said Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck Hezbollah intelligence infrastructure in the Damascus area.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military said it struck “smuggling routes” between Lebanon and Syria, that it alleges were used to transfer weapons to Hezbollah.

The Syrian defense ministry said on Wednesday an Israeli strike targeted bridges on the Syria-Lebanon border in the Qusayr area of Homs countryside in western Syria, causing “significant damage.”

This story has been updated with additional developments.