Syrian media reported overnight between Sunday and Monday that a wave of attacks was carried out by what it said was Israeli warplanes in the west of the country. Initially it was reported that the attacks took place in the districts of Hama, Homs, Tartus and Damascus, but later it emerged that the last three districts were only hit by the fall of Syrian interceptor missiles.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition organization to the Assad regime operating from London, reported that at least 7 people were killed in an attack on six military facilities in the Masyaf region, in the rural area of the Hama district. The Saudi TV channel Al-Hadith reported that three rounds of attacks were carried out against five sites of the pro-Iranian militias in the rural area of Hama.
Attacks in Hama region of Syria
The numbers were later updated with a local hospital saying that at least 14 were killed in the attacks, and 43 were injured. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition organization to the Assad regime operating from London, 12 of the dead are members of pro-Iranian militias. They claimed that some of the Syrian air defense missiles fell on houses, also in the Tartus area.
According to some reports, the attacks caused heavy damage to a "scientific research institute," which was hit by several missiles, as well as a second site. In addition, military facilities were targeted. Reuters cited two regional intelligence sources as saying that the institute is a major military research center for chemical arms production believed to house a team of Iranian military experts involved in weapons production.
A Syrian military official referred to the wave of attacks that took place in the country and said that "around 11:20 p.m., the Israeli enemy attacked from the air from northwest Lebanon some military sites in the central district. The air defense systems dealt with the missiles and shot down some of them." Contrary to the report of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the source claimed that only three people were killed in the attack, while 15 were wounded.
Syria's state media reported that the strikes caused two fires, which firefighters were working to extinguish.
According to Syria, its air defense systems were able to intercept some of the Israeli missiles, which were fired from fighter jets. The attack reportedly took place in several waves, and at least 15 missiles hit their targets. Arab media reported that this was the "most violent wave of attacks in years" and that the attacks were aimed in part at the positions of the pro-Iranian militias and the Revolutionary Guards in Syria.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the attacks.
Since the start of the war, Israel has escalated its strikes on Iranian-backed militia targets in Syria and also struck Syrian army air defenses and some Syrian forces, according to Reuters.