Two Syrian soldiers wounded during Israeli strikes over Damascus

UK-based observatory reports two deaths among Hezbollah-linked forces

An airstrike targets Damascus on July 20, 2020. AFP

Two Syrian soldiers were wounded during Israeli strikes over the capital Damascus in the early hours of Tuesday, Syrian state media said.

“At around 2.30am on Tuesday, the Israeli enemy conducted an air strike attack from the north-eastern direction targeting some points in the vicinity of Damascus,” state news outlet Sana said.

“Our air defences intercepted and downed some of the missiles.”

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that two unknown people, working for Lebanon's Hezbollah, were killed during the attack near Damascus International Airport.

A weapons depot belonging to Hezbollah was the target of the attack, the observatory said.

Hezbollah did not immediately confirm the casualties.

Earlier this month, Israel made a rare admission to striking a convoy it suspected of smuggling weapons into Syria from Iraq in November.

Israel does not usually comment on individual incidents.

The Iran-backed Hezbollah group operates in Syria, now in its 11th year of war, in support of Bashar Al Assad's government.

Israel's Lt Gen Aviv Kochavi said Israel's actions in Syria had “totally disrupted” Iran's plans to operate along the Syrian border with Israel.

In November, Syria accused Israel of launching similar attacks that wounded soldiers and damaged property.

The last reported Israeli attack in Syria was on November 13 and killed two Syrian soldiers and wounded three others when air strikes hit an airbase in the province of Homs.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, but it rarely acknowledges or discusses specific operations.

Israeli leaders have in the past acknowledged striking targets in Syria and elsewhere in what it says is a campaign to thwart Iranian attempts to smuggle weapons to proxies such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group or to destroy weapons caches

Last week, Israel's military chief of staff strongly suggested that Israel was behind a November 8 strike on a lorry convoy in Syria.