Israel strikes heavily guarded district in Damascus as tension grows

Soldier killed and seven wounded in Israeli air strikes on Damascus and Homs

A residential building in the Kfar Souseh district of Damascus hit by Israeli strikes in February. Israel has expanded attacks on the Syrian capital. AFP

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The Israeli air force struck a security target in one of the most heavily guarded districts in Damascus on Thursday, sources in the Syrian opposition said, as Israel raises pressure on the government of President Bashar Al Assad over its co-operation with Iran and Hezbollah.

A senior figure in the opposition, who did not want to be identified, said missiles hit a military intelligence compound in Kfar Souseh, an upmarket area near Umayyad Square in the Syrian capital, at the heart of the so-called "security square", where the President's home is also situated.

"The Israelis were probably after a specific operative, but we don't know who," he said.

Israel has stepped up attacks in Syria on figures linked to Tehran since the assassination of the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut on September 27.

Official Syrian media reported that one soldier was killed in overnight attacks on Thursday on Kfar Souseh and a military site in the vicinity of the central city of Homs, near the Lebanese border. The area is widely seen as a main supply line to Hezbollah, and a route in a cross-border narcotics trade linked to Hezbollah and to the Syrian military.

The military intelligence, like the rest of the Syrian army, is de facto controlled by Brig Gen Maher Al Assad, the brother of the President and the second most powerful man in the ruling system

Two days after the air strike that killed Nasrallah, Israeli planes struck a villa in a Damascus suburb frequented by Maj Gen Al Assad. Although there were no reported casualties, the attack was seen as a signal that Syria's top brass were no longer immune. In a surprise move this week, Syria's legislature, which contains no opposition, revoked the membership of Mohammed Hamsho, one of Syria's wealthiest men, who is a business associate of Maj Gen Al Assad.

The inner workings of the ruling elite in Syria are virtually unknown, making it difficult to pinpoint why the authorities have acted against Mr Hamsho, and to what extent he is involved in Maj Gen Al Assad's dealings with Iran.

But on Wednesday, parliament authorised unspecified legal action against two of its members: Mujahad Ismail, a commander in a militia division of the ruling Baath Pary, and real estate magnate Khaled Zubeidi .

It is not known to what extent the two men had connections with Maj Gen Assad, or whether the move against them is part of any larger power struggles in the country.

In Lebanon, the Israeli air force continued overnight strikes, attacking Beirut's southern suburbs several times in strikes that destroyed six residential buildings. The strikes on the Laylaki area were “the most violent in the area since the beginning of the war”, the state-run National News Agency reported.

One person died and six were wounded in a strike on the Jnah district. No warning was given ahead of time.

According to Lebanese authorities, 2,574 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across Lebanon since Hezbollah started attacking northern Israel on October 8, a day after Hamas mounted a surprise attack on southern Israel that ushered in the Gaza war.