According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an Israeli strike in Damascus that targeted a residential building killed as many as 15 people, including civilians. The state news agency reported that the Israeli airstrikes began early Sunday and targeted a residential neighborhood in central Damascus, just two weeks after a massive earthquake shook the area.
Witnesses and government officials told Reuters that the rocket hit a heavily guarded security complex close to Iranian installations. Israeli airstrikes frequently strike Damascus-area locations, but they rarely strike residential areas.
The strike, which occurred close to an Iranian cultural center, resulted in the deaths of 15 people, including civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
According to reports, the strike occurred in Kafr Sousa, a high-security area of the Syrian capital where senior security officials, branches of the security forces, and intelligence headquarters are located.
According to the report, the targeted strike caused damage to a number of buildings in the capital's densely populated district close to Omayyad Square.
Around 12:30 a.m. local time, loud explosions were heard in the capital, according to reports in the local media. According to the state news agency SANA, Syrian air defenses were "confronting hostile targets in the sky around Damascus."
In a statement, Syria's defense ministry said, "At 00:22 AM (22:22 GMT), the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial aggression from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights targeting several areas in Damascus and its vicinity, including residential neighborhoods."
State media footage showed that the strike severely damaged a 10-story building, crushing the lower floors' structural integrity.
The strike comes one day after a suspected IS attack on Saturday claimed the lives of 53 people in the central desert province of Homs.
The head of the Britain-based Observatory, which has a vast network of sources inside Syria, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP, "The strike on Sunday is the deadliest Israeli attack in the Syrian capital."
Israel has been attacking Iranian-sponsored weapons transfers and personnel deployments in Syria's neighboring country with air strikes.
Israel has been targeting suspected Iranian-sponsored weapons transfers and personnel deployments in Syria's neighbor for nearly a decade. Israel has made it clear that it will not allow Iran to have an impact on its borders.
Two soldiers were killed and two others were wounded when Israeli forces launched missiles at the capital's international airport on January 2.
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