Syria accuses Israel of third air strike in four days

The official Syrian Arab News Agency released a report alleging that Israeli air strikes overnight killed five Syrian army personnel in two locations.

The Syrian media agency did not state where the strikes hit exactly, but said they occurred in the Homs Governorate of central Syria, while Syria claimed to have shot down some of the missiles.

Two Western intelligence sources, speaking anonymously, said the strikes hit the Tiyas Military Airbase, west of the ancient city of Palmyra, as well as the Al Dabaa military airbase near al-Qusayr, located near the Lebanese border. Both locations are known to be utilized by Hezbollah militants and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims the air strike to be the third Israeli attack over the last four days and the ninth attack on Syria by Israel since the beginning of the year.

The Israel Defense Forces does not comment on strikes in Syria and the Israeli government has only acknowledged that it regularly targets Iran-linked targets in Syria. Israel says it will not allow Iran to expand its presence in Syria.

The Iranian Mehr News Agency reported on Sunday that an IRGC military advisor, who was injured in an airstrike on Friday, has succumbed to his wounds.

“Meqdad Mehghani was wounded during the Zionist attack on Friday dawn and was martyred,” the media agency said. Syria also attributed that air strike to Israel.

The IRGC has vowed to respond to Israel’s alleged attacks.