By Hamdi Alkhshali, CNN
(CNN) — Israeli airstrikes in central Syria late Sunday have killed more than a dozen people and injured more than 30 others, state-run Syrian news agency SANA reported Monday.
SANA said there had been several explosions and “air defense engagements” in the central region of Syria, including in the Tartous and Hama governorates, that resulted in multiple civilian casualties.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it did not comment “on reports in the foreign media,” when asked by CNN about the reports.
The director of health in Hama, Dr. Maher Al-Younes, told SANA that the strikes on the Masyaf countryside had killed at least 16 people and injured 36 others, with six of those in critical condition.
The Syrian news agency cited a military source as saying “the Israeli enemy launched an air aggression from the direction of northwest Lebanon, targeting a number of military sites in the central region” shortly before 8.30 p.m. local time on Sunday.
The source said Syrian air defenses had intercepted and shot down some of the missiles.
SANA said the strikes had damaged the Wadi al-Uyun highway in Masyaf and caused a blaze that firefighters were working to control.
Israel has launched airstrikes in Syria intermittently since Hamas’ October 7 attacks last year – and Israel’s ensuing war against the militant group in Gaza – dramatically escalated tensions in the region, and sparked daily exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah across the Israeli-Lebanese border.
Hezbollah, which has attacked Israel in solidarity with Hamas, has maintained a strong presence in Syria since the 2011 Arab Spring protests, which in some parts of the Middle East spiraled into proxy wars. The Lebanese militant group was an active participant, fighting alongside Iran-aligned forces in Syria and on behalf of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, who brutally quashed the opposition.
In June, an Israeli airstrike near Aleppo killed an Iranian military adviser, Iranian media reported at the time.
And in April, Israel’s bombing of Iran’s embassy complex in Syria sparked a major confrontation between Iran and Israeli, bringing the Middle East to the brink of all-out war.
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