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DAMASCUS – Six people have been killed in an Israeli air attack on Damascus, a war monitor said on Monday, as Israel confirmed raids on the Syrian capital as well as on the besieged Gaza Strip.
A statement from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) armed group on Monday said two men, who were members of the group, were killed during the “Zionist bombing in Damascus,” which took place
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, later confirmed that four additional pro-Assad, Iran-backed fighters died in the strike.
At least one of the Iran-backed fighters was Syrian, while the nationalities of the others remained unknown, Observatory head Rami Abdurrahman told AFP.
“This cowardly aggression in Damascus was a reflection of the enemy’s failure to confront our fighters inside occupied Palestine,” the PIJ said.
An AFP correspondent in Damascus heard several strong explosions shortly before midnight local time (22:00 GMT).
The Syrian Observatory said the attacks were “near the Damascus international airport”.
The Syrian state news agency SANA said “most of the enemy missiles were shot down before reaching their targets,” stressing that “no airport” was struck.
Earlier, SANA said anti-air defences were activated against attacks “in the Damascus area”.
Israel said it launched the attack south of Damascus following rocket fire from the Palestinian territory, Gaza.
“In the Adeliyah region, outside of Damascus, an Islamic Jihad compound was struck, used as a hub of Islamic Jihad’s activity in Syria,” the Israeli army said in a statement, while confirming several other attacks in Gaza.
It is rare for Israel to claim such attacks directly.
Al Jazeera also received independent confirmation about the air raids in Gaza. According to a statement by the Israeli army, “Israeli military planes targeted Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza” including the Khan Yunis headquarters of the group and several storage sites in the southern city of Rafah.
Images received by Al Jazeera showed a ball of fire lighting up the night sky in one Gaza neighbourhood, as thick smoke rose. According to the Palestinian news agency, Maan, four people were injured.
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