Three civilians killed in Israeli strikes on Syria – regime media

Syrian regime media has reported that Israeli airstrikes near the capital Damascus killed three civilians on Monday.

"Three civilians were martyred and four others wounded, including a child, because shrapnel from Israeli missiles fell on houses" in the suburbs of Damascus, the regime’s SANA news agency said.

In an earlier report, SANA said that regime air defences had downed "most" of the Israeli missiles launched from Lebanese air space shortly before dawn.

Videos published on the agency's website purported to show the Israeli warheads exploding in the sky.

An Israeli spokesperson declined to comment.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the attack hit positions of Iranian forces and fighters from Lebanese militant group Hezbollah south of Damascus.

It said four such fighters were killed in the strikes.

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Since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in the country, targeting regime fighters and their allies from Iran and Hezbollah.

On April 20, SANA said Syrian air defences had downed Israeli missiles near the ancient city of Palmyra.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria, said the targets were "military posts for Iranian militias in the Palmyra desert".

That raid killed three Syrian regime fighters and six foreigners, according to the monitor, which was not able to determine their nationalities.

Israel rarely confirms its operations in Syria but says Iran's presence in support of President Bashar al-Assad is a threat and that it will continue its strikes.

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