State media: Israeli airstrike on Syria kills army officer

DAMASCUS: A Syrian army officer was killed in an Israeli air strike in the south of the country on Wednesday, the official news agency SANA reported, citing a military source.

“The Israeli enemy carried out an aggression using drones against two military positions of our forces in the provinces of Quneitra and Daraa,” the agency said, adding that the attack resulted in the death of the officer and property damage.

Meanwhile, Israeli air strikes and ground troops rocked Gaza on Wednesday, while the Israeli army warned it was preparing for a possible offensive against the Lebanese Hezbollah movement on the northern front. In Rafah, in western Gaza, Israeli bombings killed at least seven people, according to local medics and witnesses.

The Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip said on Wednesday that at least 37,396 Palestinians, mostly women and children, had been killed in the area during the Israeli bombing that lasted more than eight months.

A statement from the ministry said that at least 24 people had been killed in the last 24 hours and that a total of 85,523 Palestinians had been injured in the Gaza Strip since October 7 last year.

The conflict in the Gaza Strip has increased tensions in the region. The Israeli military, which has exchanged almost daily fire with Hezbollah across the border since October, announced on Tuesday that operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon had been approved.

During the night, Israeli warplanes attacked Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon. A drone attack on Israeli troops near Metula was also reported, for which Hezbollah claimed responsibility. Hezbollah confirmed the deaths of two of its fighters. Lebanese state media reported Israeli attacks on several areas in the south, including the border village of Khiam.

Amid rising tensions, the Israeli army announced a plan to attack Lebanon and Foreign Minister Israel Katz warned that Hezbollah could be destroyed in a “total war.” At the same time, US envoy Amos Hochstein visited the region to promote de-escalation. Meanwhile, Syrian state media reported an Israeli attack on military bases in southern Syria in which an army officer was killed.