DAMASCUS/BEIRUT/JERUSALEM – Israel launched strikes on the Syrian capital Damascus and a military site near the western city of Homs on Thursday, the Syrian defense ministry said.
The Israeli strikes targeted the central Damascus neighborhood of Kafr Sousa and a military site in the Homs countryside, killing at least one soldier and injuring seven other people, the ministry said in a statement.
The strikes caused "material damage", the ministry said without elaborating.
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Earlier in the day, Syrian state media said explosions were heard in Damascus after Israel struck a residential building in Kafr Sousa.
Israel typically does not comment on specific reports of strikes in Syria.precision-guided
Israel has been carrying out strikes against what it called Iranian-linked targets in Syria for years, but it has ramped up raids since Hamas's attack on Israel on Oct 7 last year.
On Wednesday, Israeli strikes pounded Beirut's southern suburbs and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah said it fired precision guided missiles for the first time at Israeli targets.
Another strike came with no warning, hitting the nearby office of pro-Iran broadcaster Al-Mayadeen, the station said. It said the office had been empty since the conflict began. Lebanon's health ministry said one person was killed and five others, including a child, were wounded.
In Gaza, where Israel has intensified an assault on the northern edge of the territory since killing the leader of Hamas last week, health authorities and residents reported 42 people killed in fresh Israeli strikes, most in the north.
READ MORE: Israeli airstrike kills 5 Syrian soldiers in border region
Arriving in Lebanon for talks on ending hostilities, Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said providing arms to Israel posed a dilemma.
"On the one hand, Israel is attacked every day and not supporting it would mean that people are not (being) protected ... On the other, it is also Germany's responsibility to stand up for international humanitarian law."
