Four militants are killed in Israeli attacks on Syria, war monitors say

Four pro-Iranian fighters were among five people killed in overnight Israeli attacks in northern and northwestern Syria, a war monitor said on Saturday.

“Four Syrian pro-Iranian fighters were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the scientific research center and warehouses near Safira, east of Aleppo,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Britain-based monitor said a fifth person was killed in two other raids further west against Saraqeb in Idlib province.

Israeli authorities rarely comment on such attacks but have repeatedly said they will not allow arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence in Syria.

The Observatory said the attacks targeted two headquarters of the Syrian regime forces frequented by members of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.

Late Saturday, the Observatory reported “two Israeli attacks” on a Syrian army radar position in the southern province of Suweida, without immediately providing further details.

Since the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of attacks in Syria, mostly targeting army positions and militants, including Hezbollah.

The monitor said the raids in Idlib took place near the front lines of the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the main rebel organization active in the region.

HTS controls parts of Idlib province and parts of neighboring Aleppo, Hama and Latakia.

The official Syrian news agency SANA also reported on the raids, citing a military source.

“The Israeli army launched an airstrike from the direction of southeast Aleppo, targeting a number of locations in the Aleppo and Idlib region,” it said.

Several soldiers were injured and there were “material losses,” SANA added.

It said the strikes took place at 12:45 a.m. local time (Friday, 10:45 p.m. GMT).

Such attacks have increased since Israel’s war against Hezbollah in Lebanon escalated on September 23.

The targets included border crossings between Syria and Lebanon, which Israel said were used as supply routes for Hezbollah’s rearmament.