On the 8th (local time), Israel conducted airstrikes in central Syria, killing at least 14 people and injuring 43, according to the Syrian state news agency SANA on the 9th.
According to the report, the Israeli military carried out airstrikes targeting several military facilities in Hama province in central Syria around 11:20 p.m. the previous night. The Syrian army stated that its air defense system succeeded in intercepting some of the missiles but could not prevent human and material damage.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a civil war monitoring group, reported 18 deaths and 32 injuries from the Israeli airstrikes overnight. According to SOHR, the Masyaf Scientific Research Center, which houses pro-Iranian groups and weapons development experts, was attacked, and 13 explosions were heard.
The Israeli military neither confirmed nor denied the airstrikes in Syria. However, AFP reported that Nasser Kanaani, spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said at a press conference that day, "We strongly condemn the criminal attacks by the Zionist regime (Israel) on Syrian territory."
Rami Abdulrahman, head of SOHR, criticized the attack as "one of the most violent Israeli attacks in Syria in recent years." Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, the Israeli military has frequently conducted airstrikes on public facilities and military bases in Syria, citing connections with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
In particular, since the surprise attack by the Palestinian armed faction Hamas on Israel on October 7 last year, which triggered the Gaza Strip war, Israel has intensified its airstrikes on Syria.
On April 1, the Israeli military bombed the consular building of the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria, killing senior commanders including Mohammad Reza Zahedi, commander of the IRGC Quds Force. In response, Iran carried out retaliatory airstrikes on Israeli territory on April 13 of the same year.
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