Israel strikes in Syria; 11 reported killed

The Israeli military said it struck dozens of Iranian targets in Syria on Wednesday, carrying out a "wide-scale” strike in response to rocket fire on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights the day before.

A Britain-based war monitoring group said the Israeli airstrikes killed 11 people, including seven non-Syrians who are most likely Iranians. Syrian state media only reported that two civilians were killed.

The Israeli military said its fighter jets hit multiple targets belonging to Iran’s elite Quds force, including surface-to-air missiles, weapons warehouses and military bases. After the Syrian military fired an air defense missile, the Israeli military said a number of Syrian aerial defence batteries were also destroyed.

This photo shows destruction at a house in the suburb of Qudsaya, west of Damascus, by an Israeli air strike. AFP

The death toll of 11 was reported by Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition activist group with a network of activists across Syria.

The Observatory said the airstrikes targeted arms depots belonging to Iran’s elite Quds Force in the Damascus suburbs of Kisweh and Qudsaya. Abdurrahman added that several other areas were targeted in Wednesday’s strikes, including the Mazzeh airbase in western Damascus where air defense units are stationed.

Syria's state news agency SANA said several people were also wounded in the Israeli air raids over Damascus.

Israel says it has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria against Iranian targets trying to establish a permanent military presence there and against advanced weapons shipments to Tehran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah.