Israel Bombs Syria Hezbollah Depot

This photo released by ImageSat International on September 7, 2022, shows Syria’s Aleppo International Airport after an airstrike attributed to Israel. (ImageSat International)
This photo released by ImageSat International on September 7, 2022, shows Syria’s Aleppo International Airport after an airstrike attributed to Israel. (ImageSat International)
TT

Israel Bombs Syria Hezbollah Depot

This photo released by ImageSat International on September 7, 2022, shows Syria’s Aleppo International Airport after an airstrike attributed to Israel. (ImageSat International)
This photo released by ImageSat International on September 7, 2022, shows Syria’s Aleppo International Airport after an airstrike attributed to Israel. (ImageSat International)

Three civilians were wounded Saturday in Israeli airstrikes near the Syrian city of Homs, Syrian state media reported, with a war monitor saying a Hezbollah munitions depot was hit.

"At around 00:50 (2150 GMT)... the Israeli enemy carried out an air attack with a number of missiles, from the direction of north Lebanon, targeting several positions in the vicinity of the city of Homs," state news agency SANA reported.

"Three civilians were wounded and a civilian petrol station caught fire and a number of fuel tanks and trucks were burned," it said, adding that Syrian air defenses had intercepted some of the missiles.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Israel "destroyed a munitions depot belonging to Lebanon's Hezbollah at the Dabaa military airport" in the countryside of Homs province.

Without reporting any casualties, it said there were "loud explosions as the munitions in the depot blew up, with fires seen burning at the site."

On April 2, Israel carried out similar strikes targeting a Hezbollah depot in the Dabaa airport area, the Observatory had said, killing two pro-Iran fighters and wounding five soldiers.

The same day, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant repeated Israel's often repeated charge that Iranians are "attempting to entrench themselves in Syria and Lebanon."

"We will not allow the Iranians and Hezbollah to harm us. We have not allowed it in the past, we won’t allow it now, or anytime in the future. When necessary -- we will push them out of Syria to where they belong -- and that is Iran," he told troops in the occupied West Bank.



Israeli Jets Attack Syria-Lebanon Border Crossings to Stop Arms Smuggling

 Lebanese army members stand near rubble at a damaged site after the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, in the Lebanese village of Khiam, December 23, 2024. (Reuters)
Lebanese army members stand near rubble at a damaged site after the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, in the Lebanese village of Khiam, December 23, 2024. (Reuters)
TT

Israeli Jets Attack Syria-Lebanon Border Crossings to Stop Arms Smuggling

 Lebanese army members stand near rubble at a damaged site after the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, in the Lebanese village of Khiam, December 23, 2024. (Reuters)
Lebanese army members stand near rubble at a damaged site after the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, in the Lebanese village of Khiam, December 23, 2024. (Reuters)

Israeli jets struck seven crossing points along the Syria-Lebanon border on Friday, aiming to cut the flow of weapons to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in southern Lebanon.

Israeli troops also seized a truck mounted with a 40-barrel rocket launcher in southern Lebanon, part of a haul from various areas that included explosives, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and AK-47 automatic rifles, the military said.

The commander of the Israeli Air Force, Major General Tomer Bar, said Hezbollah was trying to smuggle weapons into Lebanon to test Israel's ability to stop them.

"This must not be tolerated," he said in a statement.

Under the terms of a Nov. 27 ceasefire agreement, Israel is supposed to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon in phases while unauthorized Hezbollah military facilities south of the Litani River are to be dismantled.

However, each side has accused the other of violating the agreement, intended to end more than a year of fighting that began with Hezbollah missile strikes on Israel in the aftermath of the Hamas-led attack of Oct. 7, 2023, from Gaza.

On Thursday, the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon called for Israeli forces to withdraw, citing what it said were repeated violations of the deal.

Israel, which destroyed large parts of Hezbollah's missile stocks during weeks of operations in southern Lebanon, has said it will not permit weapons to be smuggled to Hezbollah through Syria.

Israel has also conducted attacks against the Iranian-backed Houthi militias in Yemen in recent days and pledged to continue its campaign against Iranian-backed militant groups across the region.