Six Hezbollah Fighters Killed in Israeli Strikes on Homs

Photo published by loyalist media of huge explosion in Ibn al-Haytham Base in south east Homs city.
Photo published by loyalist media of huge explosion in Ibn al-Haytham Base in south east Homs city.
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Six Hezbollah Fighters Killed in Israeli Strikes on Homs

Photo published by loyalist media of huge explosion in Ibn al-Haytham Base in south east Homs city.
Photo published by loyalist media of huge explosion in Ibn al-Haytham Base in south east Homs city.

At least six Hezbollah fighters were killed Monday in Israeli strikes in Syria near the Lebanese border.
“Four of the Hezbollah fighters are Lebanese and two are Syrians,” Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) Director Rami Abdurrahman, told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Earlier, SOHR said Israeli strikes targeted a Hezbollah headquarters in Al-Qusair south-west of Homs on the Syrian-Lebanese border.
Another strike hit a Hezbollah headquarters used by the Iranian-backed militias south of Homs.
The observatory said that violent explosions sounded as a result of new Israeli air strikes that targeted a site near a gas station located in the al-Auras area near the Homs roundabout south of the city of Homs.
“The Ibn Al-Haytham encampment, which is used by Iranian-backed militias, is located in the area,” it noted.
According to SOHR, one of the Israeli strikes targeted a site near Al-Nabighah Al-Thubyani School, north of the roundabout in Al-Qusair city, south-west of Homs, on the Syrian-Lebanese border. The area is controlled by Hezbollah.
Plumes of smoke rose from the targeted places, while several ambulances headed towards the area. The strikes left a number of casualties, according to primary information.
On Saturday, AFP quoted SOHR as saying that an Israeli drone strike near the Lebanese border targeted a vehicle carrying “a Hezbollah commander and his companion.”
Hezbollah did not announce any deaths among its ranks on Saturday.
In March, the Israeli army struck two Syrian army sites where Hezbollah was operating. The strike was carried out based on “precise intelligence,” the army said on its Telegram account, noting that it “holds the Syrian regime accountable for all activities which take place within its territory and will not allow for any attempted actions which could lead to the entrenchment of Hezbollah on the Syrian front.”
The Israeli Army also said it struck two Syrian army sites in southern Syria, where members of the Lebanese Hezbollah group were stationed.
The Israeli army has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria since the outbreak of the civil war there in 2011, mainly targeting army positions and Iran-backed fighters including from Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
The strikes increased after Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip began on October 7, when the group launched an unprecedented attack against Israel, killing 1,200 people and seizing 252 hostages, mostly civilians.
Israel rarely comments on individual strikes in Syria but has repeatedly said it will not allow Iran to expand its presence there.
Since the beginning of 2024, the Syrian Observatory has counted 40 attacks in Syria, including 28 air strikes and 12 ground assaults. The strikes damaged or destroyed about 81 targets, including weapons and ammunition depots, headquarters, centers, and vehicles.
These strikes have killed 137 soldiers and injured 57 others.
The casualties include 21 Iranian members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, 26 Hezbollah members, 12 Iraqis, 28 Iranian-backed Syrian militiamen, 10 Iranian-backed non-Syrian militiamen and 40 regime soldiers.

 

 



Satellite Photos Show Gaza Strip Before and After War Devastation

Satellite Photos Show Gaza Strip Before and After War Devastation
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Satellite Photos Show Gaza Strip Before and After War Devastation

Satellite Photos Show Gaza Strip Before and After War Devastation

The Israel-Hamas war, now nearing a potential ceasefire, has devastated the Gaza Strip. Satellite photos offer some sense of the destruction in the territory, which has been largely sealed off to journalists and others.
Some of the images have illustrated a likely buffer zone, wanted by Israel despite international objections, which would take some 60 square kilometers (23 square miles) out of the enclave. In all, the strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea is about 360 square kilometers (139 square miles), and Palestinians hope it will be part of a future state, along with the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
Other images tell the story of how Palestinians’ lives have changed during the war. Gaza City, the dense major city in the strip, has been decimated, with buildings destroyed and roads filled with rubble.
As the war progressed, Israel ordered people to move farther south. Today, the result of that movement can be seen in images of Muwasi, just north of the strip’s southern border with Egypt. There, the sandy coast and surrounding farmland have been overtaken by thousands of tents, all visible from space, The Associated Press reported.
The images have also helped relief agencies and experts make estimates regarding the extent of the damage.
Corey Scher of City University of New York and Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State University have been studying Gaza since the start of the war on Oct. 7, 2023, after Hamas entered Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage. Their latest assessment, published Thursday, estimates 59.8% of all buildings in Gaza likely have been damaged in the war.
That's slightly lower than a December analysis from the United Nations Satellite Center. It estimated 69% of all structures in Gaza have been damaged in the fighting, which has killed over 46,000 people, according to local health authorities. They do not distinguish between civilians and militants but say women and children make up more than half of those killed.