Damascus airport shut down after Israeli strikes, 4 dead

Damascus International Airport was put out of service on Monday by Israeli strikes that killed four people, including two Syrian soldiers, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) said.

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Damascus airport, home to pro-Iranian armed groups and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, has been taken out of use by Israel for the second time in seven months.

“Four militants, including two Syrian soldiers, were killed by Israeli bombing,” Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the UK-based OSDH, told AFP. He could not name the country of the other two killed.

Two Syrian soldiers were killed in the attack around 2:00 pm Monday (23:00 GMT Sunday), the official Syrian news agency SANA said, citing a military source.

“The Israeli enemy launched an airstrike targeting Damascus International Airport and its surroundings, using a barrage of missiles, causing the death of two soldiers, wounding two others” and property damage, the agency said.

He added that the airport was “out of service”.

According to the head of the OSDH, the Israeli strike targeted “the positions of Hezbollah and pro-Iranian groups, including the weapons depot at the airport and its surroundings.”

Since the start of the civil war in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in its neighboring countries, targeting positions of the Syrian army, pro-Iranian forces and Lebanese Hezbollah.

The Jewish state rarely comments on attacks against Syria, but says it will not allow Iran to expand its influence in Syria.

On December 28, the head of the Israeli army’s operations directorate, Major General Odit Basiuk, spoke about these raids in Syria while presenting his operational prospects for 2023.

“We see our action plan in Syria as an example of how continuous and persistent military action shapes and influences the entire region,” the IDF tweeted about General Basiak’s presentation.

“We will not accept Hezbollah 2.0 in Syria,” the Israeli military added.

In the early hours of June 10, the Israeli Air Force had already bombed the airport located south of the Syrian capital, leaving the runways out of service for nearly two weeks.

Aleppo Airport, the country’s second largest airport, was also forced to close for several days in September following Israeli attacks.

Fueled by a crackdown on pro-democracy protests, the war in Syria has claimed around 500,000 lives, destroyed the country’s infrastructure and displaced millions.

After bloody fighting and shelling, the conflict has largely subsided in the past three years. Sporadic fighting sometimes erupts, and jihadist attacks continue, mainly in the east of the country.

According to the OSDH, which relies on an extensive network of sources in Syria, at least 3,825 people died in the conflict in 2022 – the lowest number since 2011 – compared to 3,882 in 2021. Last year, 1,627 civilians died, including 321 children. .