Israeli raids targeted sites around Damascus and Aleppo, and while the Syrian regime spoke of the killing of civilians, the targeted sites are witnessing military activity amid information about the killing of dozens of members.

The Ministry of Defense in the Syrian regime’s government said that an Israeli bombing targeted one of the buildings in the Damascus countryside, resulting in civilian injuries.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported on Thursday, March 28, from an unnamed military source, that “the Israeli enemy launched an air assault from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting a residential building in the countryside of Damascus.”

The targeting led to civilian injuries and material damage.

Later in the day, SANA quoted a military source as stating that around 1:45 AM, Israel launched a raid from the direction of Athriya southeast of Aleppo, targeting a number of points in rural Aleppo.

The source added that what he described as “the Israeli aggression” resulted in the death and wounding of a number of civilians and military personnel, in addition to material damage to public and private properties.

The regime’s official media did not specify the exact location of the targeting. However, local pages on Facebook posted pictures they said were of buildings targeted in al-Bahdalieh on the outskirts of Sayyidah Zaynab, near the airport, and pictures of targeted sites near Aleppo International Airport.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (based in London) mentioned that no fewer than 36 elements of the regime’s forces were killed, while dozens were wounded with varying injuries, some of which were serious.

The observatory clarified that the strikes targeted a weapons depot belonging to Hezbollah in the area of Jabrin near Aleppo International Airport, defense factories in al-Safirah, and Kafrjoum in the west of Aleppo.

In Damascus, the observatory said that five Syrian gunmen working with Hezbollah were injured by an Israeli targeting of the headquarters they were guarding, in the al-Bahdalieh area near Sayyidah Zaynab, in the Damascus countryside.

Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attacks until the preparation of this report, while Israeli media only relayed information from local Syrian media.

The Jerusalem Post newspaper cited the local Sawt al-Asima (Damascus Voice) website, that two hours before the Israeli targeting, a meeting had taken place for leaders from the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hezbollah, the Syrian Army, and the Popular Mobilization Forces supported by Iran, in the targeted building.

Since 2011, the rural areas of the Aleppo governorate and the area around Sayyidah Zaynab in the Damascus countryside have witnessed activity by militias supported by Iran, which flowed into Syria to support the regime’s forces in their war against Syrian opposition factions, later gaining a military dimension.

A message to Iran

The Ministry of Defense in the regime’s government stated, on March 26, that the United States bombed towns, villages, and military sites in Deir Ezzor governorate, leaving eight dead, including a civilian, and more than 30 wounded.

For its part, the United States denied to Enab Baladi, its responsibility for the attack on vital sites for militias loyal to Iran in the Deir Ezzor governorate in eastern Syria.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Alma Research Center considered the bombing that Deir Ezzor was subjected to, just days ago, to be an Israeli message to Iran, and that the attack was carried out by Israel, and was “relatively rare in terms of size” as it hit about ten headquarters belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps in the towns of al-Bukamal, al-Salhiyah, al-Mayadeen, and Deir Ezzor.

It quoted unnamed sources as saying that the Israeli Air Force targeted weapon stockpiles, a headquarters, and a house in Deir Ezzor, where senior officials of the Revolutionary Guard Corps and Shiite militias were meeting.