Human Lives Human Rights: Syria’s air defenses responded to Israel’s new missile attack, which took place early Sunday, intercepting most of those missiles.
The Israeli missiles hit a number of residential buildings mostly in Kafr Sousa neighborhood in central Damascus, killing at least 15 people.
“At 00:22 am (2222 GMT), the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial aggression from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights targeting several areas in Damascus and its vicinity, including residential neighbourhoods,” Syria’s defence ministry said in a statement.
The initial toll reported by the Syrian government was five dead and 15 injured, including civilians. Later, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights pegged the casualties at 15, reports AFP news agency.
It was not immediately clear whether the strike was aimed at a specific individual.
A video shared by state media purportedly showed that a 10-storey building was badly damaged in the attack, crushing the structure of its lower floors.
The Sunday strike comes more than a month after an Israeli missile strike had hit Damascus International Airport, killing four people, including two soldiers.
Israel has been carrying out hundreds of air strikes against its neighbour since the beginning of the Syrian war in 2011.
It is believed that these attacks are part of an escalation of what has been a low-intensity conflict whose main aim was to slow down Iran’s growing entrenchment in Syria.
In recent months, Israel has also intensified strikes on airports and air bases in Syria to disrupt Iran’s increasing use of aerial supply to Syria including aid for the Syrian victims.
The missile attack comes at a time when Syria is recovering from the devastating February 6 earthquake, which killed more than 5,800 people.
