Israel has ramped up attacks on Iran-linked targets in Syria since it began its war on Gaza last year.At least 15 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on residential buildings in Damascus, Syrian state media reported.
“The Israeli enemy launched an air aggression from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan [Heights], targeting residential buildings in the Mazzeh neighbourhood of Damascus and the Qudssaya area in the Damascus countryside, killing 15 people and injuring 16 others,” the ministry said on Thursday, adding that the death toll could rise.
The Israeli military said it carried out air strikes targeting several buildings and command centres belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad armed group.
The strikes are a “significant blow” to the Gaza-based group and its operatives, the Israeli army statement says on Telegram.
An official with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Group told The Associated Press news agency the strike in Mazzeh targeted one of the group’s offices, and that several members of the group were killed.
“[The Palestinian Islamic Jihad] is a Gaza-based group, a group that participated along with Hamas in the October 7 attacks in Israel last year,” Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford said, reporting from Beirut.
“In the last few weeks or so, there has been an escalation in Israel targeting infrastructure and according to Israel, Hezbollah-related targets in Syria. Certainly, this is the first time in a long while, that Palestinian Islamic Jihad is targeted,” he added.
A woman reacts as she checks the damage …
