Israeli airstrikes on Syria kill 42 Syrian soldiers and Hezbollah fighters

At least 42 Syrian soldiers and Hezbollah fighters were killed in Israeli airstrikes on several sites near Aleppo in northern Syria early Friday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Observatory, based in the United Kingdom, said, "42 were killed: 36 from the Syrian regime forces and six from Hezbollah, due to Israeli airstrikes targeting a Hezbollah missile depot with a nearby training center" in the Jibrin area near Aleppo International Airport.

Since the outbreak of conflict in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes targeting the Syrian army and Iranian-backed armed groups fighting alongside the Damascus regime.

The official Syrian news agency SANA quoted a military source as saying that Friday's Israeli airstrikes resulted in casualties among "civilians and military personnel."

The source added that the Israeli shelling targeted "several points in the  Aleppo countryside."

The Observatory also noted that Israeli airstrikes targeted defense facilities in the town of As-Safira, southeast of Aleppo, "defense factories that were under the control of the Syrian Ministry of Defense before being taken over by Iranian groups."

According to the Observatory, "this death toll from regime forces is the highest during previous Israeli strikes that targeted Syrian areas" since Israel intensified its targeting of sites in its northern neighbor following the outbreak of war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip on October 7.

The attack was considered "the most violent in Israeli strikes on Syria in 3 years."

In response to a question from Agence France-Presse, the Israeli army simply said it "does not comment" on media reports.

AFP