Israeli Strikes in Syria Reportedly Kill 14 and Wound Over 40, Says Media

DAMASCUS — The death toll from Israeli airstrikes in Syria has risen to 14, with over 40 individuals reported injured, according to Syrian state media on Monday morning.

The strikes occurred late Sunday, affecting multiple locations in central Syria. Reports from the Syrian state news agency SANA indicated significant damage to a highway in Hama province, which ignited fires in the area. Initially, the Masyaf National Hospital in western Hama reported just four fatalities.

According to SANA, quoting hospital director Faysal Haydar, 14 people have now been confirmed dead and at least 43 others wounded. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitoring group based in the UK, noted that among those killed, at least four were civilians.

One of the strikes was aimed at a scientific research facility in Maysaf, while others targeted locations where Iranian militias and experts had been working on weapon development in Syria, as reported by the Syrian Observatory. Strikes were also noted in the vicinity of the coastal city of Tartous.

The Israeli military has not provided any immediate response to the strikes. Over recent years, Israel has conducted hundreds of air raids on targets in government-controlled areas of Syria, but it typically avoids commenting on or confirming these operations. The majority of these strikes focus on Syrian forces and Iranian-aligned groups.

Israel’s ongoing campaign aims to curtail the Iranian presence in Syria, in light of the strategic importance Syria holds for Iran as a conduit for weapon transfers to Hezbollah, the militant group based in Lebanon.

In the broader context, clashes have erupted between Hezbollah and Israeli forces for the past 11 months. This escalation aligns with Israel’s operations against Hamas—a group linked with Hezbollah—in Gaza.