The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

Aftermath of Israeli attack on positions of Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Lebanese Hezbollah south of Damascus | Popular discontent grows and Iran’ militias impose major security cordon

The aftermath of the Israeli strikes on the positions of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the Lebanese Hezbollah south of the capital Damascus are still unknown, due to the large security cordon imposed by the Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah on the targeted areas near al-Sayyida Zeinab.

SOHR sources say that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the Lebanese Hezbollah imposed security cordon on the targeted military positions right after the strikes and prevented anyone from approaching without their leaders’ permission. SOHR sources added that pro-Iranian militias are periodically changing their positions in that area for fear of repeated attacks.

On the other hand, the recent Israeli strikes met with great public discontent and anger with the Iranian presence in Syria, which is the main cause of Israeli attacks. Tens of thousands of comments were made on social media by Syrians, expressing their discontent with the attack, some of which were monitored by the Syrian Observatory: “Why they don’t target Iran in its own territory? Why here in our territory? For how long we will live in fear because of Iran? What is Iran doing in our country in the first place? We have enough problems, we don’t want to pay for Iran’s actions.”

Yesterday, SOHR sources reported that Israeli missiles hit the surrounding areas of Sayeda Zeinab in south of the capital, Damascus, which is a major stronghold of the “Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps” and the Lebanese Hezbollah. However, no further details were reported yet about the number of casualties and material damage caused by the recent attacks.

On February 15, SOHR sources monitored a spike in the death toll of the Israeli attack on Syrian territory, where nine pro-Iranian militiamen were killed in Israeli airstrikes on positions and warehouses, west and south-west of the capital, Damascus, who were killed by shelling which targeted the area of Al-Kiswa, and seven were killed by shelling that hit Iranian rocket depots within the headquarters of the 4th Division in the mountains around Damascus-Beirut road, known as “old Beirut road”.

The dead were all of non-Syrian and non-Arab nationalities, and it was not known whether they were Afghans, Pakistanis or Iranians, as these militias were substantially deployed in the area near the Lebanese border.

Syrian Observatory sources reported that the Israeli bombardment also destroyed sophisticated missile depots that Iran had recently transferred to the headquarters of the 4th Division on the Damascus-Beirut road.

SORH sources had reported in the morning that Israeli rockets hit, in the early hours of the morning, headquarters of the 4th Division in the mountains surrounding Damascus-Beirut road, known as “old Beirut road”, where weapons missiles’ depots belonging to the Iranians and loyal militias are present.

The Syrian regime’s First Division and its surrounding area were also targeted in Al-Kiswa area, in addition to other locations west and south-west of the capital Damascus. Israeli shelling lasted for about half an hour from approximately 1.15 a.m. Damascus time.

Meanwhile, the regime’s air defenses intercepted a number of missiles, but some of them reached their targets