Israel strikes Syrian capital Damascus, military site near Homs

Air raids sasaran the central Damascus neighbourhood of Kafr Sousa and a military facility in the west of the country.

Israel has launched air strikes on the Syrian capital, Damascus, and a military site near the western city of Homs, the authorities said.

The Israeli attacks on Thursday targeted the central Damascus neighbourhood of Kafr Sousa and a military site in the Homs countryside, killing one soldier and injuring seven other people, according to the Syrian Ministry of Defence.

The strikes caused “material damage”, the ministry said in a statement, but did not elaborate.

Earlier in the day, Syrian state media said explosions were heard in Damascus after Israel struck a residential building in Kafr Sousa.

Israel has not issued a statement as it typically does not comment on specific reports of strikes in Syria. The attack came as United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken is touring the region pushing for a halt to Israel’s war on Gaza.

Israel has been carrying out attacks against Iran-linked targets in Syria for years, but it has ramped up raids since last year’s October 7 assault in southern Israel led by Palestinian group Hamas.

Syrian state television on Monday reported a “guided missile attack” on a car in the Mazzeh area of Damascus. In a rare comment, Israel’s military said the strike killed a Hezbollah commander responsible for the transfer of weapons from Iran.

Earlier this month, an Israeli attack on Syria’s Mediterranean port city of Latakia injured at least two civilians and resulted in fires breaking out, Syrian state news agency SANA reported.

Israel has hit Syria with air raids and artillery attacks more than 220 times since last October, according to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), which aggregates conflict data.

The most significant attack was in April when Israeli fighter jets hit the Iranian consular building in Damascus, killing seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Geir Pedersen, the United Nations’ special envoy for Syria, told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that Syria was teetering on the brink of a “military, humanitarian and economic storm”.

“The fires of conflict are raging in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Gaza, and in Lebanon,” Pedersen said. “And the heat is being felt in Syria, too.”

He warned the “regional spillover into Syria is alarming and could get much worse”.

While Israel has for years struck Hezbollah positions in Syria, it has increased its air raids as its conflict in Lebanon expands.

“The past month has seen the fastest-paced and broadest-ranging campaign of Israeli air strikes in the last 13 years, even in the heart of Damascus,” said Pedersen.

Blinken, who has travelled to the Middle East regularly during the Gaza war, is making his first trip since Israel killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, whose death the US hopes can provide an impetus for peace.

Washington is also aiming to head off a widening of the conflict in anticipation of Israeli retaliation for an Iranian missile attack, which Blinken said should not lead to greater escalation.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies