Alleged Israeli strikes target Iranian-backed forces in Syria's Hama region, 16 dead

Syrian air defenses confronted an "aggression" targeting multiple locations in Syria's Hama countryside, state media SANA said late on Sunday, following reports of an explosion heard in the same area.

"Our air defense systems confronted the aggression's missiles and shot down some of them," a military source told the SANA news agency without providing further details.

Some 16 people were killed in the strike on Masyaf in the Hama Governorate, State News Agency said.

Syrian state media linked the explosions to Israel.

A local health official quoted by SANA said 43 people had been wounded, including several critically, in the strikes.

Two regional intelligence sources said a major military research center for chemical arms production located near Masyaf was hit several times. It is believed to house a team of Iranian military experts involved in weapons production.

Syria's state media also reported that the strikes caused two fires, which firefighters were working to extinguish.

Syrian media claims Israeli responsibility

Syrian media claims Israel is responsible for the attack. However, according to a Reuters report, there has been no immediate comment from Israel, which typically does not comment on specific reports of strikes in Syria.

Syria is a key route for Iran to send weapons to the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, its Shia proxy. Israel has allegedly been targeting these transportation routes.

The most recent major incident involved the Israeli bombing of an Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps facility in Damascus in early April, an attack that caused Iran to launch a major assault on Israel two weeks later, an attack that Israel and its regional allies mainly thwarted.