Israeli Drone Attack Targets Aid Distribution Center in Syria

The near-daily Israeli airstrikes on unrelated targets in Syria continued today when a multi-rocket drone strike hit a distribution center for humanitarian aid in the village of Shinshar on the highway between Homs and Damascus.

Reports are that the rockets were fired at a convoy of trucks headed to the site. This also lead to initial reports that the target was a “military site linked to Iran,” and while that doesn’t appear to be the case, pro-Israeli social media still insist the site or the trucks are somehow in league with Iran and/or Hezbollah.

Shinshar is a relatively small Sunni village, so it wouldn’t make much sense for Shi’ite Hezbollah to set up a military site there. The site’s location does make it ideal for humanitarian aid distribution though. On the highway between the major cities of Homs and Damascus, Shinshar is also right next to the road to Qusayr city, which has a major border crossing. Lebanese refugees probably pass by Shinshar on their way elsewhere.

This is the seventh Israeli airstrike in Syria since the start of November. Yesterday Israel attacked apartment buildings in the Damascus suburb of Sayeda Zeinab, killing at least nine civilians and wounding 20 others.

That Shi’ite suburb has been hit twice in Israel’s strikes this month, while other attacks have struck other areas, including Qusayr, Aleppo Province, and Idlib. Though Israel has attacked targets in Syria off and on for decades, the number of strikes has dramatically escalated recently.

Israel has not commented on today’s strike in Shinshar, nor has it commented on most previous strikes inside Syrian territory. While some strikes have been tangentially linked to Israel’s ongoing war in Lebanon, others suggest just a general increase in hostility.