While the world sees the Russia-Ukraine conflict intensifying, three Syrian soldiers have been killed in an airstrike conducted by Israel near the capital in Damascus on Thursday morning. This is the fourth time this month Israel has launched strikes inside Syria, according to Syria's state media.
"The Israeli enemy carried out an air assault with several missiles," SANA reported, adding three soldiers were killed in the incident. State media reports suggest that the Syrian air defence ministry had shot down missiles deployed in the Israeli airstrike, which happened around 1:10 am (23:10 GMT).
The attack comes a day after Damascus claimed several missiles from northern Israel struck areas around south Quneitra, causing material damage only.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has reported that explosions were heard in capital Damascus and its suburbs "after the interception of Israeli missiles by the Syrian regime's anti-aircraft defence."
Reports also suggest that the targets included an outlook post and Syrian Finance Ministry headquarters. The Syrian military has claimed that the missiles were fired from Syria's Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and struck areas around the nearby town of Quneitra, targeting regime positions as well as allied Iran-backed militias.
This is just another attack among the hundreds of airstrikes Israel carried out on Syria's territory ever since the civil war that started in 2011.
On Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces dropped leaflets to warn Syrian soldiers not to cooperate with Hezbollah in southern Syria, hours after attacking an observation post and a "financial building" near Quneitra's border town, according to local media in Israel.
The leaflets were written in Arabic and had been addressed to "soldiers of the Syrian [Arab] army." Reportedly the leaflets resemble those dropped in Syria in the past as they feature the silhouette of an eagle, the symbol of the 210th Bashan Division of IDF responsible for defending Israel's border with Syria.
Israel is tight-lipped about its airstrikes in Syria. However, it has repeatedly said that it will not entertain Iran deepening its influence in the middle eastern country.
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