The attack reportedly targeted the country’s Hama province
State-run Syrian news agency Sana reported that an Israeli airstrike killed more than a dozen people and injured many others in Syria.
A military source told Sana that Israeli warplanes attacked multiple targets near the city of Masyaf in Hama Governorate late on Sunday.
The source added that Syrian air defenses shot down some of the missiles, which were fired by jets from Lebanese airspace.
Sana cited the source as saying the strikes damaged the main road between Masyaf and the town of Wadi al-Uyun, and caused a significant fire in another area.
The death toll has increased steadily since the airstrike. On Monday morning, Dr. Faisal Haidar, director of Masyaf National Hospital, told Sana that the death toll had reached 14, with 43 others injured, including six in critical condition.
Sana has also published images that appear to show injured people on hospital beds and a fire in a wooded area.
The Times of Israel claimed that the targeted area had been used as a base by Iranian forces and pro-Iranian militias. The newspaper added that the area hosts the Scientific Studies and Research Center (CERS or SSRC), which Israel believes is used by Tehran to manufacture precision surface-to-surface missiles.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has not commented on the attack, as they have a policy of not discussing their operations outside the country.
In early April, what is thought to be an Israeli airstrike destroyed Iran’s consulate in Damascus, the Syrian capital, killing seven officers from Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, including two high-ranking generals. Tehran retaliated a few weeks later by launching a large-scale missile and drone attack on Israeli military facilities.
Since the beginning of the civil war in Syria in 2011, Israel has repeatedly struck Syrian territory in an effort to reduce the presence of its main rival, Iran. Tehran, alongside Moscow, is supporting Damascus in its fight against terrorist groups.
During his previous term as Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged that “hundreds” of such attacks had taken place over the years.
The Syrian government has condemned the Israeli attacks and raised the issue at the UN, stating that the airstrikes violate the country’s sovereignty and international law.