Syrian soldier injured in Israeli strike, Syrian army says

 Israeli missiles launched from the occupied Golan Heights towards Syria in the early hours of Sunday wounded a Syrian soldier, the Syrian army said.

In a statement, the Syrian army said the Israeli strikes targeted “several points in the Southern region”. It did not specify the exact location, but local media reports said the attack targeted Damascus countryside.

“Our air defense systems intercepted the … missiles, downing some of them. The aggression resulted in one soldier being injured and some material losses,” the statement read.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which typically refrains from commenting on foreign reports.

Since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians and soldiers, Israel has escalated its strikes on Iranian-backed militia targets in Syria and also struck Syrian army air defenses and some Syrian forces.

More than half a dozen Iranian Revolutionary Guards officers have been killed in suspected Israeli strikes on Syria since December.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have scaled back deployment of senior officers in Syria due to a spate of deadly Israeli strikes and were relying more on allied Shi’ite militia to preserve their sway there, Reuters reported in February.

REUTERS