Israel says hit military infrastructure in Syria

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israeli military said on Monday it carried out air strikes on military infrastructure inside Syria as fears grow that its war against Hamas could spur a broader regional conflict.

Syria's Defence Ministry said Monday Israel struck at around 1:35 am (22:35 GMT) "from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting two positions of our armed forces in the Daraa countryside, causing some material losses".

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said Israel targeted "an artillery battalion" in Daraa province, in response to shelling on the nearby occupied Golan Heights.

The Britain-based observatory, which has a vast network of sources in Syria, said Hezbollah-linked Syrian and Palestinian groups were behind rocket attacks from the Daraa area.

Concerns are growing about the regional fallout from Israel's war on Gaza's Hamas rulers.

Since the fighting began, there has been a string of attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria as well as increasing exchanges of fire along the Israel-Lebanon border between the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia and Israeli forces.

American and allied forces in Iraq and Syria have been attacked with drones and rockets 23 times this month, a senior US defence official said on Monday, as regional tensions soar over the Israel-Hamas war.

Washington has blamed the spike in attacks on Iran-backed forces, and American warplanes carried out strikes last week against sites in Syria that the Pentagon said were linked to Tehran.

“From October 17 to October 30, US and coalition forces have been attacked at least 14 separate times in Iraq and nine separate times in Syria,” the official said, referring to members of the international coalition against the Daesh terror group.

The attacks were carried out “through a mix of one-way attack drones and rockets”, and “most failed to reach their targets thanks to our robust defences”, the official told journalists.

The number of attacks in Syria has risen by three since Friday, coinciding with reports of US troops being targeted in that country over the weekend and claims of responsibility from a group calling itself the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq”, which has said it carried out many of the recent strikes.

The Pentagon has previously put the toll from the attacks at 21 American personnel who suffered minor injuries and a contractor who died of a cardiac event during a false alarm.