Fourth suspected Israeli strike on Syria in five days kills two

Syrian state media reported suspected Israeli strikes early Tuesday morning local time in the capital Damascus, as tensions between Iran and Israel continue to play out in the country. 

Syria’s official news outlet SANA reported that the “Israeli enemy” fired missiles from the Golan Heights at unspecified targets near Damascus at 12:15 a.m. local time (5:15 p.m. ET on Monday). Syrian air defenses downed some of the missiles, but two civilians were killed, according to SANA. 

The outlet obtained footage purportedly showing the attack. 

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes targeted the Damascus airport, an Iranian complex near Set Zaynab outside of Damascus and a factory in Al Kiswah, also near Damascus. 

Why it matters: Syria regularly reports Israeli strikes throughout its territory, though Israel rarely confirms this. The Israeli strikes target Syrian and Iran-backed military targets and have been ongoing for years, but there has been an uptick in attacks recently. The following is a breakdown of suspected Israeli strikes on Syria over the past week. 

• March 30: Israeli missile strikes injured two Syrian soldiers near Damascus, according to SANA. 
• March 31: Two officers in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were killed in Israeli missile strikes near Damascus, the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency reported. 
• April 2: Israeli missiles hit a weapons warehouse in the central city of Homs, killing two Iran-backed militia members, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Israel Defense Forces said later in the day that it downed an unknown flying object from Syria. 

There were other suspected Israeli strikes in Syria earlier in March, as well as in January and February. 

The Iranian government vowed revenge following the deaths of the IRGC officers. 

Know more: The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is making significant strides in its efforts to be politically rehabilitated in the region after years of war. Most recently, Saudi Arabia has warmed to Syria after resuming formal relations with Assad’s ally, Iran.