23 Syrian, foreign fighters killed in Israeli attacks near Damascus

BEIRUT: Israel’s missile strikes killed 23 Syrian and foreign fighters in Syria on Thursday, a report said Israel attacked an Iranian operation on its borders latest in a series of strikes.

Israel has vowed to avoid its real enemy from becoming militarily established in Syria, where it supports the government of President Bashar al-Assad together with Russia and Hezbollah, a Lebanese rebel group.

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The latest strikes killed three Iranians and twenty Tehran-backed rebel groups near the capital’s south of Kisweh, the Syrian Human Rights Organization has said.

In both Mezzeh and Jisr Baghdad, west of the city, eight Syrian air defense units have lost their lives, the Uk-based war observer reported.

A Syrian army official said that after midnight air defenses reacted to two waves of Israeli attacks targeting the Damascus area, and then positions in Daraa and neighboring Quneitra province.

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The Israeli army claimed responsibility the previous month for a series of airstrikes toward Syrian military bases and Iranian forces which killed 23 people including 16 foreigners.