Israeli Strikes in Southern Syria

An American report has shown that the latest round of Israeli airstrikes on Syria damaged a landing runway at Damascus International Airport. (Reuters file photo)
An American report has shown that the latest round of Israeli airstrikes on Syria damaged a landing runway at Damascus International Airport. (Reuters file photo)
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Israeli Strikes in Southern Syria

An American report has shown that the latest round of Israeli airstrikes on Syria damaged a landing runway at Damascus International Airport. (Reuters file photo)
An American report has shown that the latest round of Israeli airstrikes on Syria damaged a landing runway at Damascus International Airport. (Reuters file photo)

Israeli tanks fired Wednesday on suspects along the Syrian border in the Golan Heights after they were detected near its forces, the military said.

"A short time ago during army activity in the Golan Heights, soldiers identified suspects close to a military position and fired in their direction from tanks," the army said in a brief statement.

"The suspects then moved away into Syrian territory," it added.

In the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel seized part of the strategic Golan Heights -- bordered by Lebanon, which patrols there -- from Syria, AFP reported.

The official Syrian news agency SANA said Israeli forces had also "attacked with tank shells the forests of Al-Hurriyah village" in the Syrian province of Quneitra, which borders the Israeli-occupied section of Golan Heights.

SANA added that Israeli helicopters and reconnaissance planes also flew over the area.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitor, said a fire broke out in the forest near the village and that there had been Israeli helicopters present, but did not mention casualties.

Israel considers this part area of southern Syria to be a "second front" of Hezbollah, which is close to Israel's arch-foe Iran.

Since 2011 and the outbreak of Syria's civil war, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes on Syrian territory, targeting government positions as well as allied Iran-backed forces and Hezbollah fighters.

Israel says it is trying to prevent Iran, one of Damascus' key allies in the decade-old civil conflict, from gaining a permanent military foothold on its doorstep.

On Tuesday, the Israeli Defense Force said it had shot down a small Hezbollah observation drone flown over the heavily guarded Israel-Lebanon border.



US Wants to See Israel Scale Back Some of Beirut Strikes as it Targets Hezbollah Stronghold

A cloud of smoke erupts following an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs on October 19, 2024. (AFP)
A cloud of smoke erupts following an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs on October 19, 2024. (AFP)
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US Wants to See Israel Scale Back Some of Beirut Strikes as it Targets Hezbollah Stronghold

A cloud of smoke erupts following an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs on October 19, 2024. (AFP)
A cloud of smoke erupts following an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs on October 19, 2024. (AFP)

The United States would like to see Israel scale back some of its strikes in and around the Lebanese capital of Beirut, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Saturday.

"The number of civilian casualties have been far too high," he told reporters at a G7 defense gathering in the Italian city of Naples.  

"We’d like to see Israel scale back on some of the strikes it’s taking, especially in and around Beirut, and we’d like to see things transition to some sort of negotiation that will allow civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes."

Tens of thousands of people have fled Beirut's southern suburbs - once a densely populated zone that also housed Hezbollah offices and underground installations - since Israel began regularly targeting the zone approximately three weeks ago.

On Saturday afternoon, Israel carried out heavy strikes on several locations in the city's southern suburbs, leaving thick plumes of smoke wafting over the city horizon throughout the evening.

The strikes came as Hezbollah fired salvos of rockets at northern Israel, with one drone directed at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's holiday home, his spokesman said.  

Austin added that he has raised issue about the security of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) with Israeli counterpart.  

Israel informed him it has no intent to target the peacekeepers, who are deployed in the South.