Israeli attacks in Syria leave civilian and military victims, says Syrian state media

A series of Israeli airstrikes against areas near the Syrian city of Aleppo on Friday (29) caused civilian and military casualties, according to Syrian state news agency SANA.

Thirty-eight people were killed, according to Reuters, including five members of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. One of the Hezbollah fighters was a local field commander whose brother was killed in an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon in November, Reuters said.

Israeli warplanes began an attack at around 1:45 am local time in the direction of Athriya, southeast of Aleppo, according to a military source cited by SANA.

The Israel Defense Forces declined to comment on the attack.

Israel has already launched attacks against Aleppo and the Syrian capital, Damascus, including before the October 7 war, saying it fears that Iran would turn Syria into a “base of aggression” against the Jewish State.

Both Syria and Israel consider each other enemies and do not share diplomatic relations.

Friday's attacks are some of the deadliest since Israel stepped up its military campaign against Iranian-backed groups in Syria and others last year, following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the Iran-backed Hamas group.

Following the Hamas attack, clashes between Iranian-backed groups in the region and Israel notably increased. Armed groups have also been involved in attacks with US troops supporting Israel in the Middle East.

While the attack may not be qualitatively different from other attacks Israel has launched against targets in Syria, it may now be focusing those attacks on Hezbollah and its assets in the country, said Heiko Wimmen, project director for Iraq, Syria and Lebanon at the International Crisis Group.

“It’s probably a way for them to increase pressure on Hezbollah outside of Lebanon,” Wimmen said, adding that Israel’s calculation could be that attacking Hezbollah assets in Syria amounts to “a lower rung on the escalation ladder” than doing it in the group's home country.

An Islamic movement supported by Iran and with one of the most powerful paramilitary forces in the Middle East, Hezbollah has been involved in intense fighting on the borders with Israel since October 7. Its involvement in the war raised fears that Israel's war in Gaza could spill over into a wider regional conflict.

Hezbollah has maintained a strong presence in Syria since the 2011 Arab Spring protests, which in some parts of the Middle East turned into proxy wars. Hezbollah was an active participant, fighting alongside Iran-aligned forces in Syria and on behalf of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, who brutally suppressed the opposition.