ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Israeli airstrikes early Thursday targeted the central Syrian provinces of Homs and Hama, state media reported, as regional tensions continue to rise against the backdrop of the Israel-Gaza war.
“At approximately 1:00 am today, the Israeli enemy launched an air aggression from the direction of northern Lebanon, targeting a car assembly plant in the industrial zone in Hasiya in the Homs countryside and a military site in Hama,” Syria’s state-run SANA news agency reported, citing a military source.
The strikes caused material damage but no casualties, according to SANA.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, reported the strikes targeted an “Iranian car factory” in Homs as trucks loaded with Iraqi aid bound for Lebanon were being prepared, injuring four people.
Israel has recently intensified its strikes in Syria, targeting warehouses of the Syrian army and Iran-backed militia positions.
Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on regime-controlled areas of Syria throughout its over a decade-long civil war, often claiming to target pro-Iran militias, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah group which supports the Syrian army.
The strikes have increased since October 7 of last year, when Palestinian Hamas militants launched an unprecedented, large-scale attack on Israeli territory that has prompted significant retaliation.
Israel rarely confirms strikes attributed to it in Syria but has repeatedly warned that it would not tolerate its arch-rival Iran gaining a foothold there.
On Sunday, the Observatory reported an Israeli airstrike targeted another car factory in Homs containing trucks loaded with Iraqi food and medical supplies for Lebanon.
