At least 15 people were killed in the Israeli strikes on two residential buildings in the suburbs of the Syrian capital Damascus today, reported the Syrian state news agency SANA.
16 people were injured. Residential buildings in the suburbs of Al Mazeh and Qudsaya, west of Damascus, were hit, DPA said.
Earlier today, the radio of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that the targets of the strikes were the local headquarters and other sites of the Palestinian group "Islamic Jihad", notes Reuters.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack killed 17 people, both members of pro-Iranian militias and civilians.
According to the UK-based monitoring NGO, Israel has carried out a total of 149 attacks in Syria this year.
Israel has been carrying out airstrikes against targets in Syria for years to prevent Iran and its allied militias from expanding their military influence in the country. The Israeli army sharply increased its attacks after the attack by the Palestinian armed group "Hamas" against towns and kibbutzim in the southern part of the country on October 7 last year, Reuters and DPA note.
According to residents who fled the affected areas after the recent strikes that killed several key figures from pro-Iranian groups, Al Mazeh is known to be home to leaders of the Lebanese armed movement "Hezbollah" and commanders of Syria-based units of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Syrian authorities have also used the high-rise apartment blocks in Al Mazeh to house leaders of Palestinian armed factions such as "Hamas" and "Islamic Jihad", notes Reuters.