Israel Attacks ‘Iranian Arms Supply Line’ Near Damascus

An Israeli F-15  fighter jet takes off during an air show at the graduation ceremony of Israeli air force pilots at the Hatzerim base in the Negev desert, near the southern Israeli city of Beersheva on December 26, 2013. AFP PHOTO / JACK GUEZ
An Israeli F-15 fighter jet takes off during an air show at the graduation ceremony of Israeli air force pilots at the Hatzerim base in the Negev desert, near the southern Israeli city of Beersheva on December 26, 2013. AFP PHOTO / JACK GUEZ
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Israel Attacks ‘Iranian Arms Supply Line’ Near Damascus

An Israeli F-15  fighter jet takes off during an air show at the graduation ceremony of Israeli air force pilots at the Hatzerim base in the Negev desert, near the southern Israeli city of Beersheva on December 26, 2013. AFP PHOTO / JACK GUEZ
An Israeli F-15 fighter jet takes off during an air show at the graduation ceremony of Israeli air force pilots at the Hatzerim base in the Negev desert, near the southern Israeli city of Beersheva on December 26, 2013. AFP PHOTO / JACK GUEZ

The Israeli army has carried out air strikes and fired rockets at an army base in Al-Qutayfah, northeast of the Syrian capital of Damascus, targeting the “Iranian arms supply line.”

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Israeli air strikes targeted early Tuesday positions for regime forces in Al-Qutayfah area and Lebanon’s “Hezbollah” weapons depot, igniting "successive explosions and fires, and causing material damage.”

Israel had earlier pledged to prevent using the Syrian territories for building Iranian bases or transfer advanced arms to “Hezbollah.”

The Syrian Army later said in a statement broadcast on state television that "at approximately 2:40 am, the Israeli Air Force fired a number of missiles over Syrian territory at Al Qutayfah, in the suburbs of the capital, Damascus. Our air defense systems responded and hit one of the planes."

Asked about the airstrikes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that his country “has a long-standing policy to prevent the transfer of game-changing weapons to Hezbollah in Syrian territory.”

Ehile Syrian media outlets were busy reporting about the airstrike, head of Mossad Yossi Cohen said at a Treasury committee meeting Tuesday that his country's intelligence agency has “eyes, ears and even more” trained on developments in Iran.

Separately, Russia’s Defense Ministry said that a US Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft was detected cruising between Tartus and Hmeimim during a UAV attack on the Russian military facilities in Syria, which was carried out by terrorists.

A source from the Defense Ministry was quoted as saying that “in a strange coincidence, a US Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft was cruising for more than four hours over the Mediterranean Sea at an altitude of 7,000 meters during a UAV attack on the Russian military facilities in Syria.”

The Pentagon responded to the Russian reports.

“Any suggestion that US or coalition forces played a role in an attack on a Russian base is without any basis in fact and is utterly irresponsible,” Marine Maj Adrian Rankine-Galloway, a Pentagon spokesman was quoted as saying.



Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah Warns US Against Intervening in Israel-Iran Conflict

 Protesters hold Iranian flags during a protest against Israeli attacks on multiple cities across Iran, at a bridge leading to the fortified Green Zone where the US embassy is located in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
Protesters hold Iranian flags during a protest against Israeli attacks on multiple cities across Iran, at a bridge leading to the fortified Green Zone where the US embassy is located in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
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Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah Warns US Against Intervening in Israel-Iran Conflict

 Protesters hold Iranian flags during a protest against Israeli attacks on multiple cities across Iran, at a bridge leading to the fortified Green Zone where the US embassy is located in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
Protesters hold Iranian flags during a protest against Israeli attacks on multiple cities across Iran, at a bridge leading to the fortified Green Zone where the US embassy is located in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)

Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group Kataib Hezbollah warned on Sunday it would resume attacks on US troops in the region if the United States intervenes in the conflict between Israel and Iran.

"We are closely monitoring the movements of the American enemy's army in the region," Kataib Hezbollah Secretary-General Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi said in a statement. "If America intervenes in the war, we will act directly against its interests and bases spread across the region without hesitation."

Founded in the aftermath of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, Kataib Hezbollah is one of the elite Iraqi armed factions closest to Iran. The group, a key pillar of Iran's network of regional proxy forces, has claimed responsibility for dozens of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and US forces in both Iraq and Syria.

Early last year, Kataib Hezbollah announced the suspension of all its military operations against US troops in the region in response to efforts by the Iraqi government.

Kataib Hezbollah is part of a coalition of Iran-aligned groups known collectively as the "Axis of Resistance" — an umbrella of hardline Shiite armed factions that have claimed more than 150 attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria since the onset of the Gaza war about 20 months ago.

Iraq, a rare ally of both Washington and Tehran, is striving to avoid upsetting its fragile stability while focusing on rebuilding after years of conflict.