BEIRUT: At least 10 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Israeli air strikes on the central Syrian city of Homs early Wednesday, according to a war monitor as reported by AFP.
Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported that the strikes targeted a building in the Hamra neighborhood of Homs, killing six civilians and two Hezbollah fighters.
The strikes, which completely destroyed the building located in one of the city’s affluent districts, also hit other targets associated with Hezbollah, Abdel Rahman stated. Among the deceased were three students and a woman, with two persons yet to be identified.
Confirming the casualties, a source within the Lebanese group Hezbollah said that two of its fighters were among those killed, AFP reported.
While the Syrian defense ministry did not provide precise casualty figures, it confirmed the Israeli air strikes, stating that they targeted several sites in Homs and its outskirts, resulting in civilian casualties.
Footage broadcasted by state television showed rescue teams combing through the debris of a collapsed building in search of survivors.
Israeli Air Strikes in Syria
Israel has conducted various air strikes in Syria, intensifying its campaign against Hezbollah in recent months, particularly following its conflict with Hamas in Gaza that started on October 7.
Just last week, the United States also conducted air strikes on armed groups in Syria and Iraq, resulting in the deaths of 45 people.
Earlier in January, a top official from Hezbollah had warned Israel would “receive a real slap in the face” if it expanded the conflict along the Lebanon-Israel border.
Since October 7, there have been near-daily exchanges of cross-border fire between the Israeli army and Hezbollah, an ally of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
“If Israel decides to expand its aggression, it will receive a real slap in the face in response,” Hezbollah’s number two, Naim Qassem, said in a statement.
Any restoration of stability on the border is contingent on “the end of the aggression in Gaza,” he added.
“The enemy must know the party is ready, that we are preparing based on the principle that an endless aggression can happen, just like our will to push back the aggression is infinite.”
