Israel Bombs Iran Embassy in Syria, Guards Commander among Dead

Smoke rises after what the Iranian media said was an Israeli strike on a building close to the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria April 1, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises after what the Iranian media said was an Israeli strike on a building close to the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria April 1, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israel Bombs Iran Embassy in Syria, Guards Commander among Dead

Smoke rises after what the Iranian media said was an Israeli strike on a building close to the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria April 1, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises after what the Iranian media said was an Israeli strike on a building close to the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria April 1, 2024. (Reuters)

Suspected Israeli warplanes bombed Iran's embassy in Syria on Monday in an escalation of Israel's war against Iran's regional proxies, flattening a building in a strike Tehran said killed a top Revolutionary Guards commander and several diplomats.

Reuters reporters at the site in the Mezzeh district of Damascus saw emergency workers clambering atop rubble of a destroyed building inside the diplomatic compound, adjacent to the main embassy building. Emergency vehicles were parked outside. An Iranian flag hung from a pole in front of the debris.

The Syrian foreign minister and interior minister were both spotted at the scene.

Israel has long targeted Iranian military installations and those of its proxies in Syria, and has ramped up those strikes in parallel with its campaign against Iran-backed Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Monday's attack was the first time the vast embassy compound itself had been hit.

Israel typically does not comment about attacks by its forces on Syria. Asked about the strike, an Israeli military spokesperson said: "We do not comment on reports in the foreign media".

The Iranian ambassador to Syria, Hossein Akbari, who was not injured, said at least five people had been killed in the attack and that Tehran's response would be "harsh".

Iranian state media said one of those killed was Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), and that Tehran believed he was the target of the attack.

Syrian state media said at least six people were killed and several more were injured.

The White House did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Since Hamas' attack on Israel on Oct. 7, which precipitated the war in Gaza, Israel has escalated airstrikes in Syria against both Iran's Guards and the Tehran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, both of which support the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

On Friday, Israel carried out its deadliest strikes in months on northern Syria's Aleppo province and killed a senior Hezbollah fighter in Lebanon. It has also regularly struck the airports in Aleppo and Damascus in an attempt to halt Iran's weapons transfers to its proxies.

The Israeli military said on Monday it had stopped advanced weapons, including shrapnel charges and anti-tank mines, from being smuggled into the West Bank from Iran.

It said the weapons were uncovered during an operation against a Lebanese-based operative of Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, who it said was recruiting agents to smuggle weapons and carry out attacks in the West Bank. 



Israel Launches 1st Airstrike on Lebanon Since Ceasefire

This aerial view taken a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold shows traffic driving past destroyed buildings in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh on November 28, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
This aerial view taken a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold shows traffic driving past destroyed buildings in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh on November 28, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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Israel Launches 1st Airstrike on Lebanon Since Ceasefire

This aerial view taken a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold shows traffic driving past destroyed buildings in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh on November 28, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
This aerial view taken a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold shows traffic driving past destroyed buildings in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh on November 28, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.

There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, The Associated Press reported.

The Israeli army said a warplane carried out an airstrike after "terrorist activity was detected at a Hezbollah facility containing medium-range rockets in south Lebanon."

"The IDF (Israeli army) is deployed in southern Lebanon, acting to thwart any violation of the ceasefire agreement," the Israeli military added.

The mayor of the town of Baysariyeh in southern Lebanon, Nazih Eid, told AFP that a warplane launched a raid "on the eastern edge of the town of Baysariyeh. They targeted a forested area not accessible to civilians."

The aerial attack came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.

The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah militants are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.

On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”

Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.

A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said on Thursday it was ending some protective restrictions that had limited the size of gatherings in parts of central and northern Israel.

The change was made following a situational assessment, the military said.