Incident Code

ISSY009

Location

الحجيرة, Al Hujayra, Damascus, Syria

Geolocation

33.43897, 36.31820
Accuracy: Village

Airwars Assessment

Last Updated: December 15, 2024

At least two civilians, including a woman, were killed and three others, including a 6-year-old child, were injured in alleged Israeli airstrikes on the town of Al Hujayra, Damascus countryside, on April 27th, 2020, according to local sources. Other sources stated that the civilians died due to remnants of anti-aircraft missiles fired by the Syrian regime.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that “three civilians were martyred and others were wounded, as a result of shrapnel of missile fragments on their homes in the Adliya and Al Hujayra regions of the southern countryside of Damascus.” The source, however, stated it was not known “whether the shrapnel was caused by Israeli missiles, or by the air defence missiles of the Syrian regime”.

The regime-controlled Syrian Arab News Agency reported that “enemy missile fragments landed in the populated towns of “Al Hujayra” and “Al Adliya”, which caused the death of three civilians, and the injury of three others, including a six-year-old child.”

Haaretz News quoted local sources as saying that “Four members of a pro-Iran militia and three civilians were killed in an Israeli air strike on a Damascus suburb in the early hours of Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Syria’s official news agency SANA earlier reported three civilians had been killed and four injured, including a child.” However, they did not specify which location these casualties occurred.

In an article, SANA quoted the governor of Quneitra, Hammam Dabiyat, who stated that Israeli forces had targeted civilians homes in the town, killing a man and his wife, and wounding three others, including a child.

SANA also quoted the governor of Damascus countryside, Alaa Ibrahim, who further specified that the house of a displaced family from the city of Quneitra was targeted, “which led to the death of the husband and his wife, and the injury of their child and another person and the wife’s mother. The injured were treated at Al Mujtahid Hospital, while a woman died in the Al Adliya area as a result of the aggression.”

Dr Salah Ismail, head of the ambulance department at the Al Mujtahid hospital, stated that ” three cases of people from one family with injuries and wounds arrived at the hospital this morning from the Hujayraarea.” Two of the victims were lightly injured, while the third case, a child, remained under medical observation.

Shaam News Network, however, reported that the civilians were killed and injured “by shrapnel from remnants of anti-aircraft missiles from the regime’s militias, coinciding with the Israeli warplanes carrying out airstrikes on Iranian militia positions at dawn today, April 27, according to the expectations of identical local sources.”

Shaam furthermore reported, according to local courses, that “eight Israeli airstrikes were carried out by Israeli planes targeting the sites of the regime and Iranian militias in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and its surroundings, at dawn today, without revealing the size of the human and material losses inflicted on the locations of the targeted militias”.

Key Information

Country
Military Actor
Strike Type
Airstrike
Strike Status
Likely strike
Civilian Harm Reported
Yes
Civilian Harm Status
Contested
Causes of Death / Injury
Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
Civilians reported killed
2–3
1 Woman, 1 Man
Civilians reported injured
3–4
1 Child
Military actors reported killed
4

Geolocation Notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Al Hujayra (الحجيرة), for which the generic coordinates are: 33.43897, 36.31820. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Military Statements

Israeli Military Assessment
Suspected belligerent
Israeli Military
Israeli Military position on incident
Not yet assessed
Syrian Regime Assessment
Suspected belligerent
Syrian Regime
Syrian Regime position on incident
Not yet assessed

Media From Sources (7)