Israel strikes Syrian army outposts in latest attack near Homs

Israeli missiles struck Syria's Homs, Syrian state media reported on Wednesday, with local sources saying the attacks targeted several Syrian army outposts and an airbase in the area.

Syrian air defenses shot down a number of missiles, state media said, without giving details on the targets hit.

Since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians and soldiers, Israel has escalated its strikes on Iranian-backed militia targets in Syria and also struck Syrian army air defenses and some Syrian forces.

The attacks targeted the Shuyrat airbase and the several locations on outskirts of Homs, according to a Syrian military intelligence source familiar with the matter.

A military source later told state media that there were several casualties and people injured as well as damage to property.

State television showed ambulances rushing to the scene of a strike, where wreckage and debris lay from a building that was hit. Reuters could not verify the location of the site.

Iran's growing influence

Israel has for years carried out attacks on what it has described as Iran-linked targets in Syria, where Tehran's influence has grown since it began supporting President Bashar al-Assad in a civil war that started in 2011.

Fighters allied with Iran, including Hezbollah, now hold sway in vast areas in eastern, southern and northwestern Syria and in several suburbs around the capital.