Israel drone strikes kill eight Syrian soldiers in Damascus

Israeli drone strikes on a southern suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus killed eight soldiers and wounded others, officials and a war monitor reported Wednesday.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that drone strikes Tuesday in the southern Damascus suburb of Kiswah killed eight soldiers. It called the attack “a grave violation of international law” and “clear breach of (Syria’s) sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

“It also comes in the context of the repeated aggressive policies pursued by the Israeli occupation aimed at



undermining security and stability in the region,” the statement said.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikes.

Since the fall of Bashar Assad in December, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on different parts of the country, destroying Syrian army assets, and its forces have seized a U.N. patrolled buffer zone in southern Syria.

The new authorities in Damascus have said they do not want a conflict with Israel, but Israel has remained suspicious of the government led by former Islamist insurgents.