Israel launches deadly strike on Iranian officers training Hezbollah terrorists in Syria just ten miles from Damascus
Israeli warplanes launched a devastating strike in Syria yesterday, killing two senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard officers who were training terrorists in the country.
In an escalation of its war on terror, Israel targeted the commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) with an airstrike just ten miles from Damascus, the Syrian capital.
The base was used by the Tehran-backed terror group Hezbollah, which is closely linked to Hamas in Gaza.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said: “The two IRGC officers were targeted by the Israelis. They struck immediately after the pair entered Hezbollah's compound.”
A photo taken from southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip on December 2, 2023, showing an explosion and smoke over the Palestinian territory
Benjamin Netanyahu's office said: “Hamas has failed to fulfill its obligations under the agreement, which included the release of all women and children on the list.” (Image: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu)
The attack came as heavy fighting resumed for a second day in Gaza following the collapse of Israel's ceasefire with Hamas, which saw 105 hostages released by the terror group.
Hopes for a renewed ceasefire faded last night after Israel ordered its negotiating team to withdraw from talks with mediators in Qatar, claiming Hamas was still holding women and children it had promised to release.
About 160 people are still being held by Hamas after its invasion of southern Israel on October 7, which left more than 1,200 people dead.
Relatives of the hostages still held in Gaza spoke of their unrest after hostilities resumed.
Jimmy Miller's cousin Sheri Bibas, 32, is being held with her husband Yarden, 34, and children Kifir, 10 months, and Ariel, four.
Hamas claims the mother and children were killed in an Israeli airstrike last month. But Miller told The Mail on Sunday: 'We still believe the family is doing well and alive. We try to be optimistic.
'A ceasefire would be good, but the terrorists are playing with us. I don't trust them.'
Gil Dickman, 31, whose cousin, Carmel Gat, 39, is being held, said: “Seeing the hostages coming home has given us hope, but now that the fighting has resumed we are concerned.”
After talks set up to broker a new ceasefire broke down yesterday afternoon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said: “Hamas has fulfilled its obligations under the agreement, which includes release of all women and children on the list was not met.'
French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron has offered to negotiate a ceasefire, and US Vice President Kamala Harris has urged Israel to show restraint, adding: “Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”
Smoke rises on the Lebanese side near the border with Israel, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces
Hamas fired dozens of rockets into Israel yesterday, but no injuries were reported. (Residents of the Qatari-funded Hamad Town housing complex in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip carry some of their belongings as they flee their homes)
The Hamas-led Health Ministry in Gaza said 200 people have been killed since the ceasefire ended on Friday, bringing the death toll since the war began to 15,200.
Hamas fired dozens of rockets into Israel yesterday, but no injuries were reported. Israel said it had hit 400 targets from Gaza City to Khan Yunis in the south, where many civilians have taken refuge.
Israel has pledged to help get 200 aid trucks into the war zone to ease the humanitarian crisis.
British spy planes will fly over Gaza to track hostages – including British nationals – held by Hamas, the Ministry of Defense said last night, adding: 'Surveillance planes will be unarmed, have no combat role and will be solely tasked with tracking hostages. Only information relating to the rescue of hostages will be passed on to the authorities responsible for the rescue of hostages.”