Syria’s Health Minister Hassan al-Ghabbash has said that Israeli airstrikes overnight resulted in 18 deaths and numerous injuries, marking the deadliest attack since the recent escalation in the Gaza conflict.
The strikes targeted several sites in Syria, including a military research facility associated with weapons development. Syrian officials claim that civilian areas were also targeted, although Israel typically focuses on military sites linked to Iran and Hezbollah.
The attacks occurred amid heightened tensions, with recent clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces over the past 11 months. The scale of Sunday night’s strikes was notably severe, with significant damage reported.
Israel’s military has not yet commented on the incident. While Israel frequently conducts strikes on Iranian-linked targets within Syria, it usually refrains from acknowledging these operations. The goal of these strikes is often to prevent Iranian military entrenchment in Syria, which serves as a conduit for arms shipments to Hezbollah.
The Syrian state news agency SANA reported that the strikes caused damage to infrastructure, including a highway in Hama province, and ignited fires. Syrian Health Minister al-Ghabbash condemned the airstrikes as brutal and barbaric aggression.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, reported 25 fatalities, including at least five civilians, with the remainder being Syrian soldiers and members of Hezbollah and other Iran-affiliated armed groups. The observatory noted that one of the targeted sites was a scientific research center in Masyaf, involved in developing precision missiles and drones.
Minister of Electricity Mohammad al-Zamel reported significant damage to water and electricity infrastructure due to the strikes.
“This brutal attack targeted civilian targets, and the martyrs were mostly civilians, as were the wounded,” he said.
Muhammad Sumaya, a firefighter with the Hama Fire Brigade, sustained injuries when shrapnel from one of the airstrikes struck his foot.
Speaking from his hospital bed at Masyaf Hospital on Monday, September 9, Sumaya described the situation, saying, “We moved from one location to another to handle and extinguish the fires.” He added that while they were working, “a missile landed right next to us.”
Azzam al-Omar, a photographer for SANA, was injured by shrapnel in the chest when a missile struck the area where he was documenting the aftermath of the attacks.
Local media also reported airstrikes near the coastal city of Tartous, with the observatory indicating that these were likely caused by falling air defense missiles.
By the afternoon of Monday, September 9, a burned-out car remained at one of the strike sites, and smoke continued to rise from areas where fires had recently been extinguished.
