DAMASCUS: A Syrian army officer was killed on Wednesday in an Israeli air strike in the country’s south, the official SANA news agency reported, citing a military source.
“The Israeli enemy carried out an aggression using drones against two military positions of our armed forces in the provinces of Quneitra and Daraa,” the agency said, adding the attack resulted in the death of the officer and material damage.
Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes and ground invasions rocked Gaza on Wednesday as the Israeli army warned it had readied for a potential offensive against the Lebanese Hezbollah movement on the northern front. In Rafah, western Gaza, Israeli bombardment left at least seven people dead, according to local medics and witnesses.
The health ministry in Gaza said Wednesday that at least 37,396 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in the territory during more than eight months of Israeli bombardment.
The toll includes at least 24 deaths in the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that a total of 85,523 Palestinian people had been injured in the Gaza Strip since on October 7 last year.
The conflict in Gaza has escalated regional tensions. The Israeli military, engaged in near-daily cross-border fire with Hezbollah since October, announced on Tuesday that operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon were approved.
Overnight, Israeli warplanes struck Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon, and a drone attack near Metula was reported, claimed by Hezbollah, targeting Israeli troops. Hezbollah confirmed the death of two of its fighters. Lebanese state media reported Israeli strikes on several southern areas, including the border village of Khiam.
Amid rising tensions, the Israeli army’s announcement of an offensive plan in Lebanon and warnings from Foreign Minister Israel Katz of Hezbollah’s destruction in a “total war” coincided with US envoy Amos Hochstein’s visit to the region to promote de-escalation. Meanwhile, Syrian state media reported an Israeli strike on military sites in southern Syria, killing an army officer.
