Israel says hit military infrastructure in Syria

TEL AVIV (AFP) : Israel’s army said Monday it had carried out strikes on military infrastructure inside Syria as fears grow that its war against Hamas group could spur a broader regional conflict.

“A short time ago, an IDF fighter jet attacked the launchers” from where attacks originated overnight towards Israeli territory, the military said.

The Israeli jet “struck military infrastructure in Syrian territory”, it said.

The army did not provide more details, but according to Israeli public broadcaster Kan News, the strikes took place near the southern Syrian city off Daraa.

Syria’s defence ministry on Monday said Israel struck at around 1:35 am (2335 GMT) “from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting two positions of our armed forces in the Daraa countryside, causing some material losses”.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said Israel targeted army positions including “an artillery battalion” in Daraa province, in response to shelling on the nearby occupied Golan Heights.

Concerns are growing about the regional fallout from Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza.

There has been a string of attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria as well as increasing exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israeli forces on the Lebanon border since the Gaza conflict began.

Late Sunday, the Israeli military said it was striking “Hezbollah targets in Lebanon”, also in response to rocket fire.

Cross-border exchanges with Hezbollah have become an almost daily occurrence since October 7, when Hamas group from Gaza stormed into southern Israel and killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and seized nearly 240 hostages, according to Israeli officials.

Israel has responded with an unrelenting bombardment of Gaza, which the Hamas-run health ministry says has killed more than 8,000 people, nearly half of them children.

Since the Hamas group attack, cross-border violence has killed at least 61 people in Lebanon according to an AFP tally.

Most were Hezbollah fighters, although there have been four civilians among the victims, including one journalist.

Israeli officials have reported four deaths, including one civilian.

Nearly 29,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon due to the clashes, according to the International Organization for Migration.