Israeli fighter jets conducted bombings in Damascus on Thursday, striking targets linked to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and reportedly resulting in at least 15 fatalities and 16 injuries, including women and children, as reported by Syrian state media. The airstrikes, which occurred around 3:20 p.m. local time in the al-Mezzeh neighborhood, caused significant damage to various buildings.
An official statement from the Israeli military claimed that the operation inflicted considerable harm to a command center associated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a militia receiving support from Iran. Israeli officials have consistently attributed the responsibility for the existence of the militia in Syria to the Syrian government's allowance for their operations.
Over recent years, Israeli air forces have frequently executed strikes in Syrian territory, which they assert is a strategy to thwart Iranian proxies such as Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad from establishing a strong foothold. Although Israel usually refrains from commenting on specific operations, current military officials have proactively owned up to recent attacks; Israeli military chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, mentioned on Tuesday that operations are ongoing along the Syrian-Lebanese border to obstruct weapons transfers to Hezbollah.
Additionally, Iranian media reported an Israeli missile strike in Damascus that approached the location of influential Iranian official Ali Larijani, who was meeting with Syria's National Security Committee head at the time; it was confirmed he sustained no injuries during the incident, according to Khabar Online news outlet.
