Israeli air strikes hit near Syria's Homs, civilians injured

For more than a decade, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on Syria, primarily targeting Iran-backed forces and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters as well as Syrian regime army positions.

On April 2, Israel carried out similar strikes targeting a Hezbollah depot in the Dabaa airport area killing two pro-Iran fighters and wounding five soldiers.(Archive: Reuters)
Reuters

On April 2, Israel carried out similar strikes targeting a Hezbollah depot in the Dabaa airport area killing two pro-Iran fighters and wounding five soldiers.(Archive: Reuters)

Three civilians have been wounded in Israeli air strikes near the Syrian city of Homs, according to regime media.

"At around 00:50 (2150 GMT)... the Israeli enemy carried out an air attack with a number of missiles, from the direction of north Lebanon, targeting several positions in the vicinity of the city of Homs," Syrian regime news agency SANA reported on Saturday.

"Three civilians were wounded and a civilian petrol station caught fire and a number of fuel tanks and trucks were burned," it said, adding that Syrian air defences had intercepted some of the missiles.

Israel rarely comments on the strikes it carries out on Syria, it has repeatedly said it will not allow its arch-foe Iran to extend its footprint in the war-torn country.

Israel air strikes reportedly destroyed a munitions depot belonging to Lebanon's Hezbollah at the Dabaa military airport in the countryside of Homs province

Pro-Iran group targeted

On April 2, Israel carried out similar strikes targeting a Hezbollah depot in the Dabaa airport area killing two pro-Iran fighters and wounding five soldiers.

The same day, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant repeated Israel's often repeated charge that Iranians are "attempting to entrench themselves in Syria and Lebanon".

"We will not allow the Iranians and Hezbollah to harm us. We have not allowed it in the past, we won’t allow it now, or anytime in the future. When necessary - we will push them out of Syria to where they belong - and that is Iran," he told troops in the occupied West Bank.

On Monday, Israel's army shelled a position belonging to a pro-Iran group in southern Syria near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the second such bombardment in days.

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