Monitor says Israel hits air defence bases in Syria

AFP , Tuesday 30 Jul 2024

Israeli missiles struck two air defence bases in southern Syria overnight, a war monitor said Tuesday, as tensions surge on Israel's northern border after a deadly rocket strike on the occupied Golan Heights.

Druze elders and mourners pray by the coffin of Guevara Ibrahim, 11, killed in a reported strike fro
Druze elders and mourners pray by the coffin of Guevara Ibrahim, 11, killed in a reported strike from Lebanon two days earlier, during his funeral in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-annexed Golan on July 29, 2024. AFP

 

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights related to the opposition, reported no casualties in the overnight strikes in Daraa province, which abuts the armistice line separating Syrian and Israeli forces on the Golan.

Syria's state-run media did not report any strikes.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed a "severe" response to Saturday's strike, which killed 12 youths in Majdal Shams, a Druze Arab town in the Golan.

Israel has accused Hezbollah of an attack on a football field in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Hezbollah has, however, denied any responsibility for the attack.

"The State of Israel will not, and cannot, let this pass. Our response will come and it will be severe," he said on a visit to the town of Majdal Shams on Monday.

He was greeted by protests during the visit, which came after mourners gathered in the town to bury the last victim, 11-year-old Guevara Ibrahim.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said a flurry of diplomatic activity has sought to contain the anticipated Israeli response.

"Israel will escalate in a limited way and Hezbollah will respond in a limited way... These are the assurances we've received," Bou Habib said in an interview with Lebanese broadcaster Al-Jadeed.

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