Monday night’s report of a series of Israeli missile strikes in southern Syria’s Daraa area has seen its death toll rise throughout the day, and what was once six killed is now at least 11, with around a dozen wounded.
Before reports put the toll at two soldiers, three Hezbollah, and one civilian bystander killed. Now, three soldiers are confirmed killed, along with seven foreign fighters, likely Hezbollah members, and the one civilian.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights speculated that the attacks targeted Hezbollah in the area, though Israel has yet to confirm this.
That would be in keeping with many of the Israeli strikes in recent months, which rarely are meant to target the Syrian military, but rather hit Shi’ite militia groups like Hezbollah, or Iraq’s Shi’ite organizations. Israel tends to present any Shi’ites killed as “Iranian,” even though in practice there are few actual Iranians among them.
Death Toll Rises: 11 Killed in Israel’s Strike on South Syria
Three soldiers, seven Hezbollah reported among the slain
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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