ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An Israeli airstrike on Monday night injured two Syrian army soldiers near Deir ez-Zor, said the Syrian defense ministry.
“Around 23:50 (11:50 pm) at night on Monday, October 2, 2023, the Israeli enemy launched an aerial aggression on some of the positions of our armed forces in the vicinity of Deir ez-Zor,” reported Syrian state media (SANA) citing an army source.
The attack led to the injury of two Syrian army soldiers and inflicted material damage according to SANA.
UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Tuesday that unidentified warplanes, likely to be Israeli, targeted pro-Iran militia positions in al-Bukamal town in Deir ez-Zor province near the Syrian-Iraqi border, killing six non-Syrian nationals. It also noted that four Syrian regime soldiers were injured in the airstrikes, and two are in critical condition.
The airstrike also destroyed a radar point of the Electronic insurance brigade of the pro-Iran militia deployed in the area, according to SOHR.
Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on regime-controlled areas of Syria throughout its over a decade-long civil war, often claiming to target pro-Iran militias, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah group, which supports the Syrian army. However, it rarely claims responsibility for the attacks.
Iran and Israel have been engaged in a shadow war consisting of long-running covert attacks on Iranian military and nuclear facilities, as well as sabotage and cyber-attacks. Iranian fighters are also frequently targeted in suspected Israeli strikes in Syria.
According to SOHR data, Israel has conducted 32 different attacks on Syria since the beginning of the year, destroying 71 targets consisting of weapons and ammunition depots, headquarters, centers, and vehicles. The attacks resulted in the killing of 72 Syrian soldiers and pro-Iran militiamen, in addition to two civilians.
