Israeli Military in Syria & the Gaza Strip

Israeli Military in Syria & the Gaza Strip

A child uses his mobile device in the ruins of a building in Beit Lahia, Gaza Strip on May 26th 2021. © Mohamed Zaanoun

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Incident Code

TS524 ISSY025

Incident date

July 4, 2022

Location

هوشان, Hoshan, Raqqa, Syria

Geolocation

36.484055, 38.686187 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

One to two civilians were reported killed and three others were injured, including two children, on July 4th 2022, when Turkish or Israeli shelling targeted the village of Al-Hoshan in the countryside of Ain Issa, Syria. The majority of the sources blamed Turkey for the attack but Sout Al Hayat reported that it was as a result of Israeli bombing.

According to local sources the civilian killed was Sheikh Mohammed, aged 25. The two injured children were reported to be Khaled Jabal Ahmed, aged 16, and Bouzan Ossi, aged 17. Hawar News also reported that Mohammed Buzan Sabri, aged 25, was injured as well. There is some conflicting information in different sources as Ahmad Al Aidan, a local source on Facebook reported that Buzan Ossi was killed, not injured like in previous reports. The SDF Press Center reported that the Turkish attack killed two civilians, Sheikh Mohammed and Bouzan Ossi, who died in hospital after being subjected to a severe head injury.  The third person reported injured was Cebel Ehmed, aged 16.

North Press Agency reported that the media center of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said that the village of Hoshan in the western countryside of Ain Issa district, was hit with artillery shelling by the Turkish forces and the SNA. North Press Agency put the death toll at two civilians and mentioned that two others were injured.

Ain Issa Plus reported that a tunnel digger was killed and two others were injured.

The SDF Press Center reported that this attack happened at 4pm and blamed Turkey.

The incident occured at 16:00:00 local time.

The victims were named as:

Sheikh Mohammed
25 years old male killed
Bouzan Ossi
17 years old male killed
Khaled Jabal Ahmed
16 years old male injured
Cebel Ehmed
16 years old male injured

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1 – 2
  • (0–1 children)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–3
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Turkish Military, Israeli Military

Sources (11) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    SDF Press Center reported that two civilians have been killed and two injured after Turkish shelling on July 4th 2022.

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Hoshan (هوشان), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.484055, 38.686187. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Turkish Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Turkish Military
  • Turkish Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Israeli Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military
  • Israeli Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1 – 2
  • (0–1 children)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–3
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Turkish Military, Israeli Military

Sources (11) [ collapse]

Incident Code

R4566

Incident date

October 5, 2023

Location

جسر الشغو, Jisr Al Shughour, west of Idlib, Idlib, Syria

Airwars assessment

Around 5:56 in the evening of Thursday, October 5, 2023, a child and a woman were reportedly injured by missile strikes in the city of Jisr Al Shugour, in the western countryside of Idlib, Syria. The belligerent’s identity is contested, with some sources pointing towards Syrian regime forces, and one source, Ibrahim Radwan, identifying Russian and Iranian militias as responsible for the strike. The sources emphasized that this was a renewed attack on the city on that day.

Following the attack, the Syrian Civil Defence said in a post on Twitter/X that they had treated the two injured civilians. In a video shared with the post, the two civilians are seen bleeding and being taken into an ambulance.The name or age of the two civilians is unknown.

According to the tweet by Radio AlKul marked as urgent, the incident happened shortly before 5:56 PM local time.

The incident occured at approximately 5:56 pm local time.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Syrian Regime, Russian Military, Iranian Military

Sources (5) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

Syrian Regime Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Regime
  • Syrian Regime position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Russian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Russian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Iranian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Iranian Military
  • Iranian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Syrian Regime, Russian Military, Iranian Military

Sources (5) [ collapse]

Incident Code

ISSY024

Incident date

July 1, 2022

Location

سهل عكار, Sahel Akkar, Tartus, Syria

Airwars assessment

At least two civilians, including a woman, were injured in alleged Israeli strikes on Hamidiya town on July 2, 2022.

According to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), two civilians, including a woman, were injured and material damage was caused when Israeli missiles struck a number of poultry farms near Hamidiya town. A military source told SANA that “at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, the Israeli enemy carried out an air missile aggression from over the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Lebanese city of Tripoli, targeting several poultry farms in the vicinity of Hamidiya town, south of Tartous.”

SANA provided the name of one of the victims: “Ali Rahmoun, from the village of al-Qubaiba, who suffered a broken leg in the attack, said that the Israeli missiles caused damage to his house and more than three kilometers of agricultural land planted with aborigines, in addition to two water wells.”

@TvIdlib reported that “dead and wounded” were a result of the Israeli airstrikes on “the positions of the Assad militia and the Iranian militias” but did not identify whether the casualties were civilians or militants.

SANA added that the airstrikes caused material damage to the irrigation and electricity networks, in addition to citizens’ private properties. The director of Water Resources of the province, Muhammad Mahrez, told SANA that the aggression destroyed three irrigation channels irrigating approximately 100 hectares, resulting in about 50 million Syrian pounds of damage, and the director of Electricity in the province, Abdel Hamid Mansour, indicated that, due to the aggression, the electrical network suffered great damage, including poles and electricity transmission lines. A citizen named Alaa Ibrahim, from the town of Al-Jamasa, explained that his loss due to the attack is 52 sheep and two cows, in addition to agricultural instruments, which are his only source of livelihood.

@TheSyrianTweet also reported damage to agricultural facilities, including damage to “8 greenhouses with a damage rate of 50-80%, two farms, a cow facility, and a number of farmers’ fields in the area planted with maize and some summer crops”.

A tweet from @SAMSyria0 reported that the sites that were hit by airstrikes “do not have any military character”. However, @AlHadath identified “facilities used by Hezbollah” as being the intended targets and Times of Israel reported that the strikes hit “a weapon transported by sea, possibly using Iranian ships that docked at the port last week” as part of Syria and Iran’s attempt to establish a new air defense system.

All of the sources attributed the strikes to Israel and @DagnyTaggart369 identified “four Israeli Air Force F-16 fighter jets” as being responsible.

The incident occured at approximately 6:30 am local time.

The victims were named as:

Ali Rahmoun
Age unknown male injured

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Agriculture
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    Israeli Military
  • Suspected targets
    Hezbollah, Iranian military

Sources (14) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (23) [ collapse]

  • Damage caused by alleged Israeli airstrikes on Hamidiya town on July 2, 2022. (Image posted by Syrian Arab News Agency)
  • Damage caused by alleged Israeli airstrikes on Hamidiya town on July 2, 2022. (Image posted by Syrian Arab News Agency)
  • Damage caused by alleged Israeli airstrikes on Hamidiya town on July 2, 2022. (Image posted by Syrian Arab News Agency)
  • Damage caused by alleged Israeli airstrikes on Hamidiya town on July 2, 2022. (Image posted by Syrian Arab News Agency)
  • Damage caused by alleged Israeli airstrikes on Hamidiya town on July 2, 2022. (Image posted by Syrian Arab News Agency)
  • Damage caused by alleged Israeli airstrikes on Hamidiya town on July 2, 2022. (Image posted by Syrian Arab News Agency)
  • Damage caused by alleged Israeli airstrikes on Hamidiya town on July 2, 2022. (Image posted by Syrian Arab News Agency)
  • Damage caused by alleged Israeli airstrikes on Hamidiya town on July 2, 2022. (Image posted by Syrian Arab News Agency)
  • Damage caused by alleged Israeli airstrikes on Hamidiya town on July 2, 2022. (Image posted by Syrian Arab News Agency)
  • Damage caused by alleged Israeli airstrikes on Hamidiya town on July 2, 2022. (Image posted by Syrian Arab News Agency)
  • Damage caused by alleged Israeli airstrikes on Hamidiya town on July 2, 2022. (Image posted by Syrian Arab News Agency)
  • Alleged Israeli airstrikes on Hamidiya town on July 2, 2022. (Image posted by @SAMSyria0)
  • Alleged Israeli airstrikes on Hamidiya town on July 2, 2022. (Image posted by @SAMSyria0)
  • Alleged Israeli airstrikes on Hamidiya town on July 2, 2022. (Image posted by @SAMSyria0)
  • Damage caused by alleged Israeli airstrikes on Hamidiya town on July 2, 2022. (Image posted by @SAMSyria0)
  • Damage caused by alleged Israeli airstrikes on Hamidiya town on July 2, 2022. (Image posted by @SAMSyria0)
  • Damage caused by alleged Israeli airstrikes on Hamidiya town on July 2, 2022. (Image posted by @SAMSyria0)
  • Damage caused by alleged Israeli airstrikes on Hamidiya town on July 2, 2022. (Image posted by @SAMSyria0)
  • Damage caused by alleged Israeli airstrikes on Hamidiya town on July 2, 2022. (Image posted by @TheSyrianTweet)
  • Alleged Israeli airstrikes on Hamidiya town on July 2, 2022. (Image posted by @TvIdlib)
  • Alleged Israeli airstrikes on Hamidiya town on July 2, 2022. (Image posted by @TvIdlib)
  • Alleged Israeli airstrikes on Hamidiya town on July 2, 2022. (Image posted by @SteeleSyAA)
  • Alleged Israeli airstrikes on Hamidiya town on July 2, 2022. (Image posted by @SteeleSyAA)

Israeli Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military
  • Israeli Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Agriculture
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    Israeli Military
  • Suspected targets
    Hezbollah, Iranian military

Sources (14) [ collapse]

Incident Code

ISSY026

Incident date

July 6, 2022

Location

المرج, Al Marj, Quneitra, Syria

Geolocation

33.280500, 35.830590 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

A 46 year old man was killed in alleged Israeli drone strikes on the town of Al Marj west of Hader on July 6, 2022. Sources were conflicted as to whether the man killed was a civilian or a member of Hezbollah or regime forces.

Shaam News reported that an Israeli drone killed “Farid Fouad Mustafa” in the area of Hadi’s quarry, adding that he was a member of the “Ba’ath Party” in his town and “he is known for his slander, his participation in a number of massacres and thefts, and his thirst for blood”.

Syrian Arab News Agency, the regime-controlled news agency, also reported that a young man was killed, referring to him as a civilian, and stating that he was killed near his home by an Israeli rocket while @AsharqNewsSYR stated that Mustafa was 46 years old and was killed when the bombardment hit his workplace.

However, @najlaasaadee identified Mustafa as being part of the auxiliary forces of the Syrian Army. @aabnour referred to Mustafa as being “a close associate of the Hezbollah militia” and then went on to say that he  ” is considered one of the personalities close to the Iranian militias and works with a group of elements in the trade and promotion of narcotics for their benefit”.

All of the sources that reported on the incident attributed the strikes to Israel, and @AsharqNewsSYR added that the drone came from the Syrian Golan.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    0 – 1
  • (0–1 men)
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected attacker
    Israeli Military
  • Suspected targets
    Assad regime, Hezbollah, Iranian military
  • Belligerents reported killed
    0–1

Sources (8) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]

  • "Farid Fouad Mustafa", killed by an alleged Israeli drone strike on Al Marj on July 6, 2022. Sources were conflicted as to whether he was a militant of a civilian. (Image posted by @najlaasaadee)
  • "Farid Fouad Mustafa", killed by an alleged Israeli drone strike on Al Marj on July 6, 2022. Sources were conflicted as to whether he was a militant of a civilian. (Image posted by @aabnour)

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the Al Marj (المرج) area, allegedly west of the town of Hader (حضر), in the vicinity of Hadi (هادي) quarry. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for Hader are: 33.280500, 35.830590.

Israeli Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military
  • Israeli Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    0 – 1
  • (0–1 men)
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected attacker
    Israeli Military
  • Suspected targets
    Assad regime, Hezbollah, Iranian military
  • Belligerents reported killed
    0–1

Sources (8) [ collapse]