Syria blames Israel for deadly airstrike in Damascus

Syrian state media reported on Wednesday that an airstrike on a residential building in Damascus had killed two people and said Israel was responsible for the attack.

The Israeli military declined to comment on the attack, which hit a building in the Kafr Sousa neighborhood just after 9:30 a.m., according to the Syrian government's official news agency SANA. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war in Syria, said a third person was killed by shrapnel from the attack, which also damaged surrounding buildings.

At least five people were killed during a strike in the same neighborhood last February. At the time, a senior Western diplomat said the attack targeted Iranians near a location used by the Iranian military.

While Israel did not comment on the latest attack, it has acknowledged hundreds of previous attacks on Iran-linked targets in Syria.

Israel, Iran and Iranian allies such as Syria have been waging a shadow war through air, land, sea and cyberspace for years. Iran supports and arms a network of proxy militias that have fought with Israel, including Hamas and other Palestinian groups.

Strikes and counterattacks have escalated across the region in the wake of the October 7 Hamas-led attacks on Israel. Last month, Iran accused Israel of launching an airstrike on the Syrian capital Damascus, killing senior Iranian soldiers.

Cassandra Vinograd And Hwaida Saad reporting contributed.