Syria blamed Israel for one of the deadliest attacks in the country in months. Israel did not immediately comment.The New York Times reports that airstrikes in Syria have resulted in the deaths of at least 18 people and left dozens injured. According to Syria’s state news media and an independent organization, the strikes were carried out on Monday and targeted military sites in the western region of the country.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group based in Britain, stated that the strikes hit an area containing a scientific research institute in Masyaf, where work on developing precision missiles is conducted. The organization cited unnamed sources in the Syrian security forces.

This attack is one of the deadliest in Syria in recent months. The Syrian state-run news agency, SANA, reported that in addition to the 18 dead, 37 people were injured, including six in critical condition. The agency also stated that the strikes caused damage to roads, water, power, and telephone infrastructure.

Israel’s military has not commented on the strikes. However, the Syrian Observatory reported a higher death toll of at least 25 people, including Syrian combatants, individuals working with Iranian militias, and civilians in Masyaf and other areas in the province of Hama. This information has not been independently confirmed.

Israel has previously acknowledged carrying out hundreds of airstrikes on targets in Syria that it claims are linked to Iran. In March, a series of airstrikes near the northern Syrian city of Aleppo resulted in the deaths of at least 44 people, including Syrian soldiers and members of Hezbollah, a Lebanese militia backed by Iran.

Iran has been a strong supporter of Syria, providing arms and support to various proxy militias, including Hezbollah, Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and the Houthis in Yemen. Syria has been a strategic partner for Iran since the country’s revolution in 1979, when Syria supported the new government in Tehran while others shunned it. Iran sees Syria as a crucial ally that provides land access to Hezbollah.

The airstrikes targeted an area containing one of the campuses of the Scientific Studies and Research Center (S.S.R.C.). This institute has multiple sites across Syria, and Masyaf is home to one of its most important weapons-development facilities, according to experts. The S.S.R.C. is responsible for research, development, and production of advanced conventional weapons, as well as chemical, biological, and potentially nuclear weapons. In 2005, the United States prohibited its citizens and residents from doing business with the center, and in 2007, the Treasury Department froze the assets of its subsidiaries, listing the S.S.R.C. as the “Syrian government agency responsible for developing and producing non-conventional weapons.” 

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