Israeli warplanes have hit the ‘terror HQ’ in neighbouring Syria, warning the new regime there is no place to hide for militants amid fears of a fresh outbreak of war in the Middle East
Israeli warplanes have bombed a Damascus neighbourhood with two missiles, setting buildings ablaze, killing one person, and injuring others, according to local reports.
Fast-jets targeted a building believed to be a Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant HQ in the Dummar area of the Syrian capital, witnesses said. A large plume of smoke was seen rising from the building following the attack just over an hour ago. It is believed Israeli commanders were trying to kill senior members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, whose fighters have launched attacks in support of Hamas in Gaza.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said: “Israeli aircraft targeted a building with two missiles in… Damascus, killing at least one person.”
Other Middle East news outlets have reported the attack. Israel sparked a storm last year when it targeted one of Tehran’s consular buildings in Damascus, killing 16, including eight members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. That attack sparked a round of direct missile exchanges between Iran and Israel, taking the Middle East to the brink of a major war between the two countries.
Twelve days after the April 1 Israeli strike Iran unleashed its retaliatory attack on Israel. Israeli Defence Minister Israeli Katz was quoted confirming the latest attack with a warning to new Syrian leader, former al-Qaeda fighter, Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Julani. He said: “Wherever terrorist activity is organized against Israel, the extremist Islamist leader Julani will find air force planes circling above him and attacking terrorist targets.
“Islamic terrorism against Israel will have no immunity, neither in Damascus nor anywhere else… We will not allow Syria to become a threat to the State of Israel.” Syria has been hit by widespread violence in the past few days, with reports of over 1,000 killed in violence between rival factions and Alawite locals loyal to toppled former leader Bashar al-Assad. Entire families including women and children have been killed in Syria’s coastal region as part of recent a series of sectarian killings.
The wave of violence broke out last Thursday, when armed groups loyal to al-Assad ambushed security forces in the province of Latakia, killing at least 16 members of the security forces. On Sunday, the country’s new presidency led by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced the formation of a fact-finding committee to ‘investigate the violations against civilians.’ It said it would present its findings within 30 days and that those found to be responsible for violations would be referred to the judiciary.
In a statement it added: “The new Syria is determined to enshrine justice and the rule of law, protect the rights and freedoms of its citizens, prevent unlawful revenge and guarantee that there is no impunity.” Al-Assad was ousted in a stunning uprising by a rebel coalition led by al-Sharaa in December last year. Assad was a dictator who served as the 19th president of Syria from 2000 until his government was overthrown.
