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At least 14 people, including five civilians, were killed on Sunday in Israel’s airstrike on Syria’s Hama countryside, Syrian state media reported.
Israel allegedly targeted a military research centre in the vicinity of the city of Misyaf, injuring at least 43 people, several critically.
Syrian air defences “confronted an aggression that targeted several points in the central region”, SANA news agency reported.
The attack reportedly damaged a highway in Hama province and sparked fires that firefighting teams were battling to control early Monday.
“The Israeli aggression caused the martyrdom of five civilians,” said Fayssal Haidard, director of the Masyaf National Hospital.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor based in the UK, said 13 violent explosions rang out in the zone housing scientific research centres in Masyaf “where pro-Iranian groups and weapons development experts are present”.
Since the 7 October attack by Hamas, Israel has escalated its strikes on Iranian-backed militia targets in Syria and struck its army air defences and some Syrian forces.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes inside Syria in recent years, but has rarely acknowledged or discussed the operations.
“The enemy launched an air aggression from the direction of northwest Lebanon, targeting a number of military sites in the central region” shortly before 8.30pm local time, the Syrian news agency quoted a military source as saying. “Our air defence shot down some missiles.”
Two regional intelligence sources said a major military research centre for chemical arms production located near Misyaf was hit several times.
The Syrian media also reported that the strikes caused material damage to Masyaf-Wadi al-Uyun highway and sparked a fire in Hair Abbas area.
In the most high-profile attack on Syria since the war in Gaza began, suspected Israeli warplanes bombed Iran’s embassy in April, a strike that Iran said killed seven military advisers, including three senior commanders.
Israel has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment in Syria, particularly since the country is a key route for Iran to send weapons to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
