BEIRUT: Israeli jets and ground-to-ground missiles struck Syria early on Tuesday, Syria’s army said, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated he would do what was needed to stop Hezbollah gaining “game-changing” Iranian weapons.
The Syrian army said in a statement carried by state television that Israeli jets fired missiles at the Al-Qutaifa area near Damascus from inside Lebanese airspace at 2:40 a.m. (0040 GMT) and Syrian air defenses hit one of the planes.
Israel then fired rockets from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, but the Syrian defenses brought them down, the army said, adding that Israeli jets fired a final barrage of four rockets from inside Israel, one of which was intercepted by Syrian air defenses while the others caused material damage.
Israel has pledged to prevent Syrian territory being used for Iran to set up bases or transfer high-quality weaponry to Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, which has been helping Damascus beat back a six-year-old rebellion.
The Israeli military declined to comment. Although the Israeli air force chief last August disclosed that his corps had struck in Syria around 100 times, Israel’s policy is generally not to confirm or deny such operations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in answer to a reporter’s question about the strikes that Israel’s policy was to stop Hezbollah moving “game-changing weapons” out of Syria.
“We back it up as necessary with action,” he said, without explicitly confirming Israel carried out Tuesday’s strikes.
In its statement, the Syrian army repeated previous warnings of serious repercussions for the strikes and repeated its past accusation that Israel was using attacks to support militant groups in Syria.
A European diplomat speaking earlier this week said there was an understanding between the United States and Russia that Hezbollah and other foreign fighters would be removed from the area in Syria close to the Israeli border.
“I don’t think that has happened very much up till now and that is a source of concern,” the diplomat said.
Syria says Israel hits territory with jets, missiles
Syria says Israel hits territory with jets, missiles
Dozen people entered Egypt from Gaza on first day of Rafah opening: source
- The reopening, demanded by the UN and aid groups, is a key part of the second phase of Trump’s truce plan for Gaza, where humanitarian conditions remain dire after two years of war
RAFAH: A handful of injured Palestinians and their companions entered Egypt from Gaza on Monday, the first day of a limited reopening of the Rafah border crossing, a source on the Egyptian side of the border told AFP.
“Five injured people and seven companions” crossed the border, the source said on Tuesday.
The reopening, demanded by the United Nations and aid groups, is a key part of the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s truce plan for Gaza, where humanitarian conditions remain dire after two years of war.
The number of patients allowed to enter Egypt through the crossing was limited to 50 on Monday, each accompanied by two companions, according to three officials at the Egyptian border.
An Egyptian health official told AFP on Monday that three ambulances had arrived with Palestinian patients who were screened upon arrival to determine which hospital to be taken to.
AlQahera News, citing Egypt’s health ministry, reported that 150 hospitals and 300 ambulances had been prepared to receive Palestinian patients.
It said 12,000 doctors and 30 rapid deployment teams had been allocated to work with those transferred.
The director of Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, said there were 20,000 patients in the territory in urgent need of treatment, including 4,500 children.
There was no official announcement of the number of people who returned to Gaza via the crossing.
AFP images on Monday showed empty buses crossing back to Egypt after transporting Palestinians to Gaza earlier in the day.
The partial resumption of operations at the crossing comes after Israeli forces seized control of the gateway to Egypt in May 2024 during the war with Hamas.
Gaza’s civil defense reported dozens killed in a wave of Israeli strikes over the weekend, in what the military said was retaliation for Palestinian fighters exiting a tunnel in Rafah city.
Ali Shaath, the head of a Palestinian technocratic committee established to oversee the day-to-day governance of Gaza, said Rafah’s reopening offered a “window of hope” for the territory.
