Israel strikes residential building near Damascus, Syrian state news agency says
(Reuters) – An Israeli strike targeted a residential building in the Sayeda Zainab district south of the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday, the Syrian state news agency said.
The attack resulted in a “number of deaths and injuries”, the state news agency added, without providing a detailed breakdown.
There was no immediate comment from Israel, which said last week that its air force had struck intelligence assets of the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah in the same area.
Sayeda Zainab, a stronghold of armed group Hezbollah and the site of a major Shi’ite shrine, has been the target in previous strikes.
Israel has ramped up strikes in Syria since the Oct. 7 attack by militant group Hamas on Israel in 2023 and particularly since the escalation of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.
Syrian and Western intelligence sources say Israeli attacks in Syria have killed scores of Hezbollah and pro-Iranian militia fighters based around the eastern outskirts of Damascus and to the south of the city.
(Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi, Kinda Makieh and Hatem Maher, Editing by Louise Heavens and Sharon Singleton)
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