War Monitor: Israeli Airstrikes on Arms Depots in Syria Kill 4 Iranian, 3 Syrian Troops

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Friday that at least seven people were killed in airstrikes near Damascus International Airport late Thursday night, including four officers of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and three Syrian soldiers. According to the Al Arabiya news outlet, the attacks, which struck five weapons depots near the airport, took place at around 11:45 pm – shortly after the arrival of a cargo plane reportedly carrying arms from Tehran. The war monitor and the Syrian government attributed the attacks to Israel. The Israeli military did not comment on the attack. On Friday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, speaking on Radio Haifa, said, “I don’t know what happened at night” but suggested that “maybe it was the Belgian air force.” Jerusalem accuses Tehran of seeking to establish a permanent military presence in Syria as a base from which to attack Israel and has long maintained that it would not tolerate such efforts. Israel has acknowledged conducting hundreds to thousands of incursions into Syria to thwart Iran and its proxies, including Hizbullah, since the civil war began in 2011.