At around 7.35 pm on Friday, 23rd August 2024, a woman named Ghazala Awad Darwish (Umm Mahmoud) was killed alongside three Syrian nationals working with pro-Iranian militants, and up to seven civilians were injured by a missile bombardment with contested responsibility allegedly perpetrated by the Israeli military or Syrian regime forces in the Sanun village in the central region of Homs, north of Damascus, Syria.

The government-run agency SANA reported that the strike had injured seven civilians and caused material damage. Facebook posts by “News of Khirbet Ghazi and the western countryside” and “World News” identified a civilian woman who had died as a result of the missile attack being hit by shrapnel as Ghazala Awad Darwish (Umm Mahmoud) while Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) wrote that she was from the village of Sanun in the western Homs countryside.

Other reports, such as Facebook posts by World News and SOHR, reported injuries to 10 pro-Iranian militia members and mentioned that three Syrian nationals working with pro-Iranian militants had been killed. As the nature of their cooperation with pro-Iranian militia is not known at the time of writing, Airwars considers these individuals as having a contested civilian status until further information comes to light.

Reef Homs Facebook account shared a video of the alleged bombardment of Sanun where the moment of attack and its aftermath can be seen.

Facebook posts by “News of Khirbet Ghazi and the western countryside” and SANA reported that it was an Israeli missile strike launched from the direction of north Lebanon. However, SOHR and World News Facebook account wrote that a woman lost her life after being hit by shrapnel while trying to intercept the air defense missiles of the Israeli raids. Therefore, her death maybe have been caused by the air defense missiles launched by the Syrian regime forces.

As there is uncertainty about the belligerent causing the civilian casualties – either Israeli military or Syrian regime forces – Airwars has graded both strike status and civilian harm status as contested.