Israel Strikes Hezbollah Weapons Depot In Syria

The Israeli military said it struck a Hezbollah weapons depot in a Syrian town near the Lebanese border on Tuesday as Syrian state media reported residential buildings were also hit.

The Israeli military said it “conducted an intelligence-based strike on weapons storage facilities used by Hezbollah’s munitions unit in the area of Al-Qusayr”.

“Hezbollah’s munitions unit is responsible for the storage of weapons in Lebanon and has recently expanded its activities into Syria in the area of-Al Qusayr,” it added.

Syria’s official SANA news agency said: “An Israeli aggression targeted the industrial zone in Al-Qusayr.

“The Israeli aggression also targeted some residential buildings surrounding the industrial zone,” it added.

It did not report any casualties.

Areas along the Syria-Lebanon border have come under mounting attack as Israel has sought to prevent Hezbollah from replenishing its arsenal after the conflict escalated in September.

The main border crossing, known as Masnaa on the Lebanese side, was put out of service by an Israeli strike last month.

On Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 10 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Al-Qusayr. The Britain-based war monitor said the dead were mostly civilians but also included three Syrian fighters for Hezbollah.

The Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said “weapons depots and headquarters” used by Hezbollah were hit in the Thursday strike.

He said the strikes sought to thwart efforts to “transfer weapons from Iran via Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon”.

AFP