Middle East Crisis Updates: Israel Targets Hezbollah Official in Strike in Damascus

Two Israeli officials described the attack as an attempt to assassinate a Hezbollah official involved in weapons smuggling. It came as Israel continued to press its campaign in Lebanon against Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy.

The Israeli military carried out airstrikes on a residential building near the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, Syria, in an attempt to assassinate a ranking Hezbollah official involved in weapons smuggling, according to two Israeli officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence.

Syria’s state news agency, SANA, cited a military source Tuesday as saying that Israel had launched three missiles that targeted a residential and commercial building in the Mezzeh district of Damascus, a highly fortified neighborhood that houses foreign embassies and security buildings, killing seven civilians, including women and children.

It wasn’t clear if the targeted official was among the dead, but the Iranian Embassy in Damascus said in a statement on Tuesday that no Iranian citizens had been killed or wounded in the strike. That could not immediately be independently verified.