Dozens are killed by Israeli attacks in Syria, according to security sources

CAIRO: According to two security sources, 38 individuals were killed by Israeli attacks on the Syrian city of Aleppo early on Friday. Among them were five members of the Lebanese armed organisation, Hezbollah.

A number of civilians and military personnel were killed as Israel and extremist organisations conducted airstrikes against Aleppo, the Syrian Defence Ministry stated early on Friday.

Around 1:145 a.m. local time (2245 GMT), many rural regions in Aleppo were the target of Israeli airstrikes, according to a statement from the ministry.
The ministry said that the airstrikes were timed to coincide with drone assaults from Idlib and western rural Aleppo, which were carried out by “terrorist organisations” and targeted people in Aleppo and its environs.
The government did not, however, provide an exact death toll or indicate whether the deaths were brought on by terrorist group assaults or Israeli airstrikes.
“The aggression resulted in the martyrdom and injury of a number of civilians and military personnel and caused material losses to public and private property,” added the statement.
Israel has increased its attacks on what it claims are outposts of an Iranian-backed militia in Syria after the Hamas assault on Israeli troops and civilians on October 7. It has also targeted several Syrian soldiers and the air defences of the Syrian army.
Such assaults have been carried out by Israel for years in Syria, where Tehran’s influence has expanded since it started supporting President Bashar al-Assad in a civil war that broke out in 2011.
Hezbollah and other fighters aligned with Iran now control large swaths of eastern, southern, and northwest Syria, in addition to a few suburbs around the capital.
Since the war broke out in Gaza, Israel and Hezbollah have begun exchanging gunfire across the Israel-Lebanon border. This is the worst escalation of hostilities since their month-long battle in 2006.