Israel strikes Syria in rare daytime raid
One killed, 12 wounded in targeted attack on Iranian military installations
DAMASCUS, SYRIA — Israeli jets flying high over Lebanon struck at targets inside Syria on Tuesday, Syrian state media reported, in a rare daytime raid that killed at least one person.
Syria’s SANA state news agency said the country’s air defences shot down five missiles, adding that one person was killed and 12 others were wounded.
It reported strikes on the Wadi Ayoun area in the western Hama province and on the town of Baniyas in the coastal Tartous province.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the jets targeted military installations belonging to Iran, a key ally of the Syrian government.
Lebanese residents in areas north of the capital, Beirut, reported hearing jets overhead before sunset.
Israel is believed to be behind a string of strikes targeting government and allied military installations in Syria, in order to disrupt weapons transfers between its arch-enemies Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The Israeli government rarely acknowledges the attacks, and such strikes usually take place late at night.
The Syrian government accused Israel of striking a weapons research facility in Masyaf, near Wadi Ayoun, in July. The attack killed a top military scientist.
Elsewhere in Syria, at least eight people were killed in airstrikes in the northern Idlib province, where Syria’s rebels are holed up in their last major bastion. Those strikes were likely carried out by the Syrian government or its allies, which are preparing for a major offensive.
The Syrian Civil Defence, volunteer first responders also known as the White Helmets, said five children were killed in strikes on the town of Jisr al-Shughour and another three civilians were killed in strikes on the village of Mahambal. The Observatory said 13 people were killed.
The Observatory blamed the strikes on Russia, which intervened in Syria’s civil war in 2015 to support President Bashar Assad.
Government forces are amassing at the border with Idlib province, while Russia revealed last week it had positioned more than a dozen ships off the Syrian coast, raising fears of a widescale offensive that could mark the last major battle in the sevenyear civil war.
The U.N.’s special envoy to Syria, Staffan De Mistura, urged Russia and Turkey to reach a “soft solution” to avert an expected government offensive on the province.
Syria’s government is determined to retake Idlib, which it says is being held hostage by terrorists. Russia and Iran, which also back the government, have adopted a similar position.
Turkey, which has financed and organized rebels in Idlib and keeps 12 military posts in the province, has been less clear about where it stands.
De Mistura, in a Geneva news conference, appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to prevent a showdown in Idlib, saying “we need more time.”
The leaders of Russia, Turkey, and Iran are slated to meet in Iran on Friday to discuss Syria. De Mistura said he heard from media reports that a campaign for Idlib could begin as early as the following Monday. It was not clear which reports he was referring to.
The envoy restated his offer to travel to Idlib to oversee humanitarian corridors so that civilians can shelter in safety if an offensive moves forward.
There are 2.9 million people presently in Idlib, according to U.N. estimates, including 1.4 million who have been displaced.