Israel Resumes Campaign to Hinder ‘Iranian Entrenchment’ In Syria

Israeli soldiers walk beside mobile artillery units near the city of Katzrin in the Golan Heights March 19, 2014. (Reuters)
Israeli soldiers walk beside mobile artillery units near the city of Katzrin in the Golan Heights March 19, 2014. (Reuters)
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Israel Resumes Campaign to Hinder ‘Iranian Entrenchment’ In Syria

Israeli soldiers walk beside mobile artillery units near the city of Katzrin in the Golan Heights March 19, 2014. (Reuters)
Israeli soldiers walk beside mobile artillery units near the city of Katzrin in the Golan Heights March 19, 2014. (Reuters)

Syrian Presidential Advisor Bouthaina Shaaban praised the role of late commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, in each of Iran, Syria, Iraq and Yemen, describing him as the owner of “strategic thinking that undermines the enemy’s strategy.”

Shaaban was speaking during a ceremony held by the Iranian embassy in Damascus on the first anniversary of Soleimani’s killing in a US strike in Baghdad in January 2020.

The ceremony was attended by Iranian ambassador to Damascus, Jawad Turkabadi, and a large number of Syrian officials and representatives of Palestinian organizations in the Syrian capital.

Meanwhile, the official Syrian TV said that Israel struck targets in southern Syria on Wednesday, the third attack of its kind in around 10 days, Reuters reported.

A military spokesman quoted by Reuters said missiles flying over the Golan Heights targeted several locations and air defenses downed several missiles.

“Our air defenses responded to an aerial Israeli aggression... on some targets in the southern region,” state media quoted a Syrian army spokesman as saying.

According to the news agency, two military defectors said the strikes hit the Kisswa area in the southern outskirts of the capital Damascus and military bases used by Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.

Israeli military officials have said in recent months that Israel would escalate its campaign against the Iranian presence in Syria, according to Reuters.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the Israeli raids targeted sites where “Iranian militias and the Lebanese Hezbollah” were stationed, which resulted in “deaths and injuries.”

Reuters noted that while no immediate comment was made by an Israeli military spokesman, Israel’s Defense Force Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi said last month the missile strikes had “slowed down Iran’s entrenchment in Syria”.



Suspected US Airstrikes in Yemen Kill at Least 4 People Near Hodeidah

A man holds a rifle as protesters, mainly Houthi supporters, rally to mark the annual al-Quds Day (Jerusalem Day) on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Sanaa, Yemen March 28, 2025. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
A man holds a rifle as protesters, mainly Houthi supporters, rally to mark the annual al-Quds Day (Jerusalem Day) on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Sanaa, Yemen March 28, 2025. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
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Suspected US Airstrikes in Yemen Kill at Least 4 People Near Hodeidah

A man holds a rifle as protesters, mainly Houthi supporters, rally to mark the annual al-Quds Day (Jerusalem Day) on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Sanaa, Yemen March 28, 2025. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
A man holds a rifle as protesters, mainly Houthi supporters, rally to mark the annual al-Quds Day (Jerusalem Day) on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Sanaa, Yemen March 28, 2025. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Suspected US airstrikes battered Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen into Wednesday, with the militias saying that one strike killed at least four people near the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.

The intense campaign of airstrikes in Yemen under US President Donald Trump, targeting the militias over their attacks on shipping in Mideast waters stemming from the Israel-Hamas war, has killed at least 65 people, according to casualty figures released by the Houthis.

The campaign appears to show no signs of stopping as the Trump administration again linked their airstrikes on the Iranian-backed Houthis to an effort to pressure Iran over its rapidly advancing nuclear program. While so far giving no specifics about the campaign and its targets, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt put the overall number of strikes on Tuesday at more than 200.

“Iran is incredibly weakened as a result of these attacks, and we have seen they have taken out Houthi leaders,” Leavitt said. “They’ve taken out critical members who were launching strikes on naval ships and on commercial vessels and this operation will not stop until the freedom of navigation in this region is restored.”

Overnight, a likely US airstrike targeted what the Houthis described as a “water project” in Hodeidah governorate's Mansuriyah District, killing four people and wounding others. Other strikes into Wednesday targeted Hajjah, Saada and Sanaa governorates, the militias said.