Israeli warplanes launched a devastating dawn raid inside Syria yesterday, killing two senior officers of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards who were in the country training terrorists.
In an escalation in its war on terror Israel targeted the commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in an air strike just ten miles from Damascus, the Syrian capital.
The base was being used by the Tehran-backed terrorism group Hezbollah, which is closely allied with Hamas in Gaza.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said: ‘The two IRGC officers were the target of the Israelis. They struck immediately after the pair went into the Hezbollah site.’
A picture taken from southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip on December 2, 2023 showing an explosion and smoke over the Palestinian territory
Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said: ‘Hamas did not fulfil its obligations under the agreement that included releasing all the women and children that were on the list’ (Pictured, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu)
The attack came as intense fighting resumed for a second day in Gaza following the collapse of Israel’s ceasefire with Hamas, during which 105 hostages were released by the terror group.
Hopes for a renewed truce broke down last night after Israel ordered its negotiating team to withdraw from talks being held with mediators in Qatar, claiming Hamas was still holding women and children it had promised to release.
Around 160 people are still being held by Hamas following its invasion of southern Israel on October 7, killing more than 1,200 people.
Relatives of the hostages still being held in Gaza spoke of their turmoil after hostilities resumed.
Jimmy Miller’s cousin Sheri Bibas, 32, is being held with her husband Yarden, 34, and children Kifir, ten months, and Ariel, four.
Hamas claims the mother and children were killed in an Israeli air strike last month. But Mr Miller told The Mail on Sunday: ‘We still believe the family is OK and they are alive. We try to be optimistic.
‘A ceasefire would be good, but the terrorists are playing with us. I don’t trust them.’
Gil Dickman, 31, whose cousin, Carmel Gat, 39, is being held, said: ‘Seeing the hostages come home has given us hope, but now fighting has resumed we are worried.’
After talks set up to secure a new ceasefire broke down yesterday afternoon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said: ‘Hamas did not fulfil its obligations under the agreement that included releasing all the women and children that were on the list.’
French PM Emmanuel Macron has offered to negotiate a ceasefire, and US Vice President Kamala Harris has urged Israel to show restraint, adding: ‘Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.’
Smoke rises on the Lebanese side near the border with Israel, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces
Hamas fired dozens of rockets into Israel yesterday, but no injuries were reported. (Residents of the Qatari-funded Hamad Town residential complex in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, carry some of their belongings as they flee their homes)
The Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza said 200 people had been killed since the ceasefire ended on Friday, bringing the death toll to 15,200 since the war began.
Hamas fired dozens of rockets into Israel yesterday, but no injuries were reported. Israel said it had hit 400 targets from Gaza City to Khan Yunis in the south, where many civilians have taken refuge.
Israel has promised to help to get 200 aid trucks into the war zone to relieve the humanitarian crisis.
British spy planes will fly over Gaza to track hostages – who include UK nationals – held by Hamas, the Ministry of Defence said last night, adding: ‘Surveillance aircraft will be unarmed, do not have a combat role, and will be tasked solely to locate hostages. Only information relating to hostage rescue will be passed to the authorities responsible for hostage rescue.’
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