Israeli missiles targeted the Homs governorate in central Syria late Tuesday into Wednesday, as reported by state media. The official television mentioned that the airstrikes hit the central region and noted that air defenses intercepted and shot down several missiles. The Syrian official news agency (SANA) reported from its correspondent in Homs that "air defense systems are repelling hostile targets in the central region." Local sources stated that the attacks targeted several Syrian army sites and an airbase in the area. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights indicated that four people were killed as a result of the airstrikes, including civilians.
In related incidents, on January 30, eight people were killed, including members of Iran-aligned groups, in an Israeli strike targeting a headquarters for these groups in the Sayyida Zainab area near Damascus, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. On January 20, 13 people were killed, including five advisers from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, as a result of an Israeli airstrike on a building in the Mazzeh neighborhood of Damascus, as reported by the observatory. These strikes coincide with the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip since October 7, heightening fears of its escalation.
