Israeli Strike Kills Three Pro-Hezbollah Fighters in Syria

File photo: Iranian militias’ training in Syria, including fighters for the Lebanese Hezbollah. (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)
File photo: Iranian militias’ training in Syria, including fighters for the Lebanese Hezbollah. (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)
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Israeli Strike Kills Three Pro-Hezbollah Fighters in Syria

File photo: Iranian militias’ training in Syria, including fighters for the Lebanese Hezbollah. (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)
File photo: Iranian militias’ training in Syria, including fighters for the Lebanese Hezbollah. (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)

Three Hezbollah fighters and a Syrian were killed on Friday in an Israeli drone strike on their car in the south of Syria, a war monitor said.

"A Syrian and three Lebanese Hezbollah fighters from the surveillance and missile-launching unit were killed in the Israeli drone strike on their rented car" in Madinat al-Baath town in the province of Quneitra, close to the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Later Friday Hezbollah said that three of its fighters had been killed, without giving any further details.

The previous day the Observatory, which has a network of sources in Syria, reported that Israel hit sites close to Damascus with eight missiles, as well as a "regime military post in the province of Quneitra", without causing any casualties.

The strikes were a response to the bombardment of Israeli-annexed Golan, the monitor said.

On December 2, two Syrian Hezbollah fighters and two officers of Iran's Revolutionary Guards were killed in an Israeli air strike on Hezbollah sites close to Damascus, the monitor said.

The official news agency of the Revolutionary Guards, Sepah News, reported on the same day that two members of the guards had died on an "advisory mission" in its ally Syria, but did not specify where and when they were killed.

Israel has undertaken hundreds of air strikes in its neighbour Syria since the start of the country's civil war in 2011, targeting the positions of the Syrian army and groups affiliated with Iran, such as Hezbollah.

Those missions have intensified since the start of Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip on October 7, which was triggered by the group's unprecedented attack on Israeli soil.

On November 8, three Hezbollah fighters were killed in an Israeli strike against the militant group's positions close to Damascus, according to the Observatory.

Israel rarely comments on its operations in Syria, but says it wants to prevent Iran, its sworn enemy, from establishing itself on Israel's doorstep.



Starmer: Britain Moving Jets to Middle East to Support Regional Security

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly Prime Ministers' Questions session in parliament in London, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly Prime Ministers' Questions session in parliament in London, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
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Starmer: Britain Moving Jets to Middle East to Support Regional Security

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly Prime Ministers' Questions session in parliament in London, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly Prime Ministers' Questions session in parliament in London, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Britain is moving additional military assets, including fighter jets, to the Middle East to provide support across the region, Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters on Saturday as he was en route to a Group of Seven meeting in Canada.

Iran and Israel traded missiles and airstrikes on Saturday, the day after Israel launched an air offensive against its old enemy, killing commanders and scientists and bombing nuclear sites in a stated bid to stop it building an atomic weapon.

"We are moving assets to the region, including jets, and that is for contingency support in the region," Starmer said.

Britain already has fighter jets in the Middle East as part of an operation to counter threats in Iraq and Syria.

Crews began deployment preparations on Friday morning, when it was clear the situation in the region was deteriorating, a spokesperson for the prime minister said.

Further refueling aircraft from British bases have been deployed, and additional fighter jets will be sent, the spokesperson added.

Iran warned the United States, United Kingdom and France that their bases and ships in the region will be targeted if they help stop Tehran's strikes on Israel, Iran state media reported Saturday.