22 dead in Israeli airstrikes in Syria as IDF enters southern Lebanon

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 22 people in two separate attacks in Syria overnight, according to a state media outlet and an opposition observer organization.

According to a report by SANA, the Syrian state-controlled broadcaster, Israeli warplanes and unmanned aircraft struck Damascus at 2:05 a.m. Tuesday, approaching the Syrian capital from the direction of the Golan Heights.

Three people were killed in the attack, SANA claimed, including television news anchor Safaa Ahmed.

 Nine others were injured in the strikes, SANA reported.

In a separate attack overnight, Israeli fighter jets hit an Iranian base in eastern Syria, and a number of weapons caches and warehouses.

 The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group opposed to the Assad regime, reported that 19 members of pro-Iranian militias were killed in the strikes, with 18 more injured in the attacks.

The dead included seven Syrian nationals, nine Iraqis, and three”non-Syrians” whose nationality was not reported.

The strikes reportedly targeted Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps positions in Deir Ezzor, 56 miles (90 kilometers) from the Iraqi border, and outside of Al Bukamal.

The targets included an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps guesthouse in the village of Al-Heri, two weapons caches in Al-Hizzam, a warehouse in Al-Suwaiyah, the IRGC regional headquarters in Deir Ezzor, and a radar facility.

The airstrikes came just hours after IDF ground forces entered southern Lebanon.

On Tuesday, the IDF confirmed that a limit ground operation in Lebanon had begun.

“The IDF is operating according to a methodical plan set out by the General Staff and the Northern Command which IDF soldiers have trained and prepared for in recent months,” the Israeli military said.

“The Israeli Air Force and IDF Artillery are supporting the ground forces with precise strikes on military targets in the area.”