Israel bombs Aleppo in Syria, causing more than 40 deaths

At least 42 Syrian soldiers and fighters from the Lebanese Hezbollah movement died an Israeli attack last Friday in the Aleppo region, in the north of the country, indicated the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).

The organisation, based in the UK and with a large network of sources in Syria, said the attack was targeted “missile depots of Hezbollah”, an ally of the Syrian regime, of the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas and of Iran, Israel’s bitter regional enemy.

This is the highest number of deaths among the ranks of the Syrian army due to an Israeli attack since October According to this organization, the war between the Jewish state and Hamas began in the Gaza Strip.

Since the beginning of the conflict, Hezbollah, in solidarity with Palestinian Hamas, has attacked targets in northern Israel from southern Lebanon almost daily.

Israel responded to these Hezbollah attacks, hit targets in Lebanese territory increasingly deeper, the last ones more than 100 km from the border.

In parallel, the Israeli army has intensified attacks against pro-Iranian elements in Syria since October, a country where it has attacked numerous targets since the civil war began in 2011.

In the middle of this month, the Israeli military announced that it had attacked “around 4,500 Hezbollah targets” in Lebanon and Syria since the war with Hamas broke out in Gaza.

The OSDH said 36 Syrian soldiers and six Hezbollah fighters were killed, as well as dozens wounded, in that attack, which occurred in an area near Aleppo’s airport.

Previously, the OSDH reported a death toll of 36, referring only to Syrian army casualties.

This was reported by a Syrian military source, quoted by the official SANA news agency “several deaths and injuries among civilians and soldiers” due to an Israeli attack against army positions around Aleppo.

“The Israeli enemy launched an air strike against several positions in Athriya, southeast of Aleppo,” the source said.

At the beginning of this Friday it was also there direct actions against factories which depend on the Syrian Ministry of Defense in Safira, near Aleppo, but are now under the control of pro-Iranian groups, according to the OSDH.

The Israeli army “does not comment”

Contacted by AFP from Jerusalem, the Israeli army said, as usual in such cases, that does not comment on press information coming from foreign media.

Hezbollah has elements in Syria that supported President Bashar al Assad in that country’s civil war and have continued to operate to protect its supply lines with Iran.

Tehran supports its presence in Syria it is limited to military advisors.

Thursday, an attack hit a residential property on the outskirts of Damascuscausing at least two deaths, the Sana news agency reported, which attributed the action to Israel.

On March 19, there had already been Israeli bombings of Hezbollah weapons depots around the Syrian capital.