Israel has bombed Syrian territory at least 347 times in 2024, the highest number of air strikes since it began attacking Syria in 2018 to combat the presence of Iran, an ally of the deposed Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad.
The figures were released today by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a non-governmental organization (NGO) whose headquarters are located in the United Kingdom, but has a wide network of collaborators on the ground.
"Israel attacked Syrian territory on 373 occasions, of which 347 were air strikes and 26 were ground strikes, which constitutes the highest annual number of Israeli bombings against Syria" since 2018, it indicated.
These attacks, few of which were claimed by Israel, resulted in the death of 414 soldiers and left another 277 injured to varying degrees, according to the Observatory, which stresses that 68 civilians died in these attacks, including 13 children and 16 women, while 85 were injured.
These attacks also caused "the destruction or damage of some 1,032 targets, including weapons and ammunition depots, headquarters, centers and vehicles", and were directed mainly against the provinces of Damascus and Rif Damascus, but also the central province of Homs and southern Deraa.
Despite the fall of the regime of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on 8 December by an Islamist alliance led by the Levant Liberation Organization (HTS, in Arabic) and heir to the Syrian branch of Al-Qaida, Israel continued its attacks on Syrian territory by land, air and sea.
Israel's new pretext is to prevent the regime's weapons from falling into the hands of individuals or groups that could threaten Israeli security.
