Fifteen people were killed in an Israeli attack on a home in Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) said in Beirut on Sunday, February 19. According to this non-governmental organization with an extensive network of sources in Syria, civilians are also among the victims. The deadly attack targeted the Kafr Sousa district, a high-security area in the Syrian capital that houses the headquarters of the security and intelligence services and is home to high-ranking officials from those services.
The Syrian Defense Ministry reported a preliminary figure of five dead, “including one soldier” and fifteen wounded “some in critical condition”. “At 00:22, the Israeli enemy launched an airstrike from the occupied Golan Heights, targeting several areas of Damascus and its surroundings, including residential areas,” the ministry said.
This was “the deadliest Israeli attack on the Syrian capital to date,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the OSDH. According to the official Syrian agency Sana, several buildings were damaged.
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No comment from Israel
Since the war in Syria began in 2011, Israel has conducted hundreds of airstrikes in its neighbor, mostly targeting positions of the Syrian army, Iranian forces and Lebanese Hezbollah, allies of the Syrian regime.
The Jewish state rarely comments on its attacks on Syria, but regularly asserts that it will not allow Iran to extend its influence to Israel’s borders.
In the summer of 2022, two civilians were injured in an Israeli attack south of Tartous on Syria’s west coast, according to the Syrian Defense Ministry.
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