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.



Lebanese Army Denies Reports Claiming Militant Infiltration and Troop Withdrawal in Bekaa

Lebanese army units deploy on the Lebanese -Syrian border (File/Reuters) 
Lebanese army units deploy on the Lebanese -Syrian border (File/Reuters) 
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Lebanese Army Denies Reports Claiming Militant Infiltration and Troop Withdrawal in Bekaa

Lebanese army units deploy on the Lebanese -Syrian border (File/Reuters) 
Lebanese army units deploy on the Lebanese -Syrian border (File/Reuters) 

The Lebanese Army on Sunday denied reports alleging the infiltration of armed groups into Lebanon and the army's withdrawal from border areas in the Bekaa region.

In an official statement posted on its X page, the army said, “Further to previous statements, the Army Command denies what is being circulated on a number of social media sites regarding the entry of armed persons into Lebanon and the withdrawal of the army from border areas in the Bekaa.”

The statement affirmed that “the relevant military units continue to carry out their regular missions to control the Lebanese-Syrian border, in addition to monitoring the security situation internally to maintain stability and prevent any threat to civil peace.”

The Army Command then called for maintaining accuracy in reporting news related to the military institution and the security situation, and refraining from spreading rumors that could lead to tension among citizens.