The Syrian government blamed Israel for launching missile strikes at its territory that slaughtered 16 people, deepening tensions between the two nations amid an expanding Israeli movement to disrupt Iranian arms supplies to Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Tensions are growing in the Middle East. At least four civilians have been slain and 15 others injured in a series of strikes undertaken by Israel in Syria. The targets were reportedly in Damascus, Tartus and Homs, as well as a research centre discovered in Hama province. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights states one of the strikes targeted a missile depot at a military command nearly 5 kilometres from Shayrat military airport.
The casualty toll from Israeli attacks in Hama province, central Syria, has increased to 14 dead and 43 wounded, the official news agency said. “The number of martyrs following the Israeli aggression on several sites in the vicinity of Mesyaf has risen to 14 and the number of wounded to 43,” the director of the hospital in the region was cited by Sana as expressing. An NGO had previously conveyed seven deaths.
Ex-member of the war cabinet Benny Gantz stated Israel should shift its emphasis to Hezbollah and the Lebanese border, cautioning that the country “is already behind on this.”
“We have enough forces to deal with Gaza and we should focus on what is happening in the north,”
Gantz stated, speaking at a Mideast forum in Washington where he also said Iran and its proxies were “the real problem.”
“The time has arrived for the north and I think we are late on that,”
the ex-army chief and centrist politician added. Gantz stated Israel made a mistake in vacating much of the country’s north as hostilities with Hezbollah extended after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that triggered the Gaza war.
“In Gaza, we have passed a strong point in the campaign,”
he stated.
“We can do whatever we want in Gaza. We should try to reach an agreement to free our hostages, but if we do not succeed soon, in a few days or a few weeks, or whatever it is, we should go north,”
he added.
“We are capable of striking the state of Lebanon if necessary,”
he stated. Gantz left the prime minister’s government Benjamin Netanyahu in June due to the absence of a post-war objective for Gaza.
