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Warplanes of the Israeli Air Force reportedly hit several targets in southern Syria in the early hours of October 25th.
Several facilities linked to the Hezbollah and the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) were reportedly targeted on the outskirts of the city of Al-Baath and the village of Al-Krum in the al-Quneitra governorate in southern Syria.
According to the London-based monitoring group The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the attack was carried out by an Israeli plane that fired two missiles. Some other sources claimed that the attack was carried out by Israeli helicopters that fired at least three missiles.
Unofficial sources reported that the targets of the strikes included the building of the Ministry of Finance in Al-Baath, where the Hezbollah observation post was located; the observation posts of Hezbollah and the Syrian army in Al-Krum; the headquarters of one of the officers of the 90th brigade of the Syrian army.
No casualties have been reported so far.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are yet to comment on the strikes. The Syrian state media and the Hezbollah media have not reported on the issue.
If confirmed, the attack in Quneitra is the first IDF strike on targets in Syria after talks between Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, where, among other things, the situation in Syria was discussed.
Following the Israeli-Russian talks, Israel’s Housing Minister reported that they’ve come to an understanding whereby Putin will keep a deconfliction mechanism in place, and allow Israel to strike Syria with no response. The results of the meeting were treated as Moscow’s “green light” to Israeli strikes on Syria.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said: “We talked about the situation in Syria and came to good and stable agreements.” In his turn, Housing Minister Zeev Elkin said: “An agreement has indeed been reached with regard to Syria, according to which the agreements that existed under the previous government will remain in force.”
The last Israeli raid in Syria took place in the late hours of October 13th. A series of Israeli airstrikes hit the outskirts of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra in the eastern countryside of Homs. A Syrian soldier and three pro-Iranian fighters were reportedly killed.
Later, on October 16, the Israeli military assassinated Medhat al-Saleh, director of the Golan Affairs Office in the Syrian government. He was reportedly shot dead by the Israeli military while he was visiting ‘Ayn At Tina site, which is located right on the Separation of Forces Line that separates Syria’s al-Quneitra from the Israeli-occupied part of the Golan Heights.
