This had not happened since last June. Damascus International Airport was closed on Monday by Israeli strikes, which killed four people, including two Syrian soldiers, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).
It is the second time in less than seven months that the airport in the Syrian capital, where Iranian-backed armed groups and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters are present, has been taken out of service by Israel.
“Four fighters, including two Syrian soldiers, were killed by Israeli shelling,” said Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the UK-based OSDH. He could not specify the nationality of the other two killed.
The airport “out of service”
The official Syrian agency Sana, citing a military source, said for its part that two Syrian soldiers had been killed in this attack, which took place around 02:00 on Monday (23:00 GMT on Sunday).
“The Israeli enemy carried out an airstrike using a barrage of missiles, targeting Damascus International Airport and its surroundings,” causing “the death of two soldiers, the injury of two others” and damage to property, the agency said. . The airport is “out of service,” he added.
According to the OSDH chief, the Israeli attack targeted “Hezbollah positions and pro-Iranian groups in and around the airport, including a weapons depot.”
Since the start of the civil war in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in its neighbor, targeting positions of the Syrian army, pro-Iranian forces and Lebanese Hezbollah. Israel rarely comments on its attacks on Syria, but says it will not allow Iran to expand its influence in Syria.
On December 28, the head of the Israeli army’s operations directorate, Major General Oded Basiuk, spoke out about these incursions in Syria by presenting his operational prospects for 2023.
“We see our action plan in Syria as an example of how continued and persistent military action leads to shape and influence the entire region,” the IDF tweeted, reporting General Basiuk’s presentation.
“We will not accept a Hezbollah 2.0 in Syria,” added the Israeli army.
Before dawn on June 10, the Israeli air force had already bombed the airport located in the south of the Syrian capital, taking the runways out of service for almost two weeks. Aleppo’s airport, the second largest in the country, also had to close for several days in September after Israeli attacks.
Sparked by the crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations, the war in Syria has claimed around 500,000 lives, devastated the country’s infrastructure and displaced millions of people.
After years of bloody fighting and shelling, the conflict has largely subsided in the past three years. Sporadic fighting sometimes breaks out and jihadist attacks continue, mainly in the east of the country.
Source: BFM TV
