Two civilians were wounded in Israeli strikes near Damascus on Sunday, Syria’s defense ministry said.
The strikes came days after the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said Israeli strikes killed dozens of Syrian soldiers and allied fighters.
Israeli strikes have increased after the country’s war with Hamas, an ally of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, began on October 7.
Syrian state media earlier said, “Air defense systems intercepted enemy targets in the Damascus area.”
The SOHR said Israel targeted “the area of the scientific research center in Jamraya, Damascus, setting fire to the site,” a Syrian government facility.
The war monitor said Israeli strikes on Friday killed 53 people in Syria, including 38 soldiers and seven members of Hezbollah.
The monitor said the death toll on Friday was the highest since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7.
Israel has launched hundreds of strikes targeting Iran-backed groups fighting alongside President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in the country’s 13-year civil war.
Friday’s attack targeted “a rocket depot belonging to Lebanon’s Hezbollah” not far from Aleppo airport, the SOHR said.
Hezbollah in Lebanon has exchanged near-daily fire with the Israeli army across the country’s southern border since the Israel-Hamas war began.
The war in Syria, which began in 2011, has killed more than 507,000 people and displaced millions.
