On Wednesday, the Israeli Air Force targeted smuggling routes in Syria used by Hezbollah to transport weapons into Lebanon.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, the strike is part of a broader campaign in recent months aimed at reducing the flow of weapons from Iran to its terror proxy.
These strikes on Syrian smuggling routes specifically target Unit 4400, the Hezbollah unit responsible for arms smuggling.
“With the support of the Syrian regime, the Hezbollah terrorist organization continues to systematically abuse civilian infrastructure for its terrorist activities,” the military said. “The IDF will continue to operate in order to prevent Hezbollah’s buildup of weaponry, which endangers the civilians of Israel.”
Syrian state media reported explosions near Damascus and the central city of Homs on Thursday. The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) stated that air defense systems were activated in response to a “hostile target” south of Homs. Later, the agency also reported a blast near Damascus.
Another explosion was reported in Damascus’s upscale Mezzeh area on Thursday, which is home to the Iranian embassy.
The IDF subsequently announced that “Air Force fighter jets, under the direction of Northern Command, attacked several military buildings and headquarters of the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization in Syria.
“The attack constitutes significant damage to the organization’s headquarters and its operatives,” according to the military. “The Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, led by its leaders who live outside of Gaza, carried out the murderous attack alongside Hamas on Oct. 7, [2023,] and it has been carrying out acts of terrorism against the State of Israel ever since.”
The IDF noted that Islamic Jihad is “another proxy of Iran in the Middle East” and has been fighting alongside Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon.
The Israeli airstrikes comes as Ali Larijan, senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, is visiting Damascus for meetings with Syrian officials, including President Bashar Assad.
Syrian state media reported several casualties with unconfirmed reports that it was a targeted killing.
On Wednesday evening, Syrian state media reported that Israeli Air Force fighter jets had conducted strikes in the Al-Qusayr area, close to Syria’s border with Lebanon.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based war monitor with links to the country’s opposition, reported that the strikes targeted bridges and military checkpoints in the border region.
The IAF carried out raids on Hezbollah targets in Al-Qusayr on Nov. 5, attacking munitions depots used by the Lebanon-based terrorist army.
Israeli jets intercepted two drones in Syrian airspace that were approaching Israeli territory “from the east” in two separate incidents a few hours apart overnight Wednesday and Thursday morning.
