Seven civilians killed in Israeli strike near Damascus

An Israeli strike on a residential building in the Sayeda Zainab district south of the Syrian capital Damascus killed seven civilians on Sunday, the Syrian defence ministry said, in the second such attack in less than a week.

The fatalities included women and children, with 20 people also injured, the ministry said in a statement.

There was no immediate comment from Israel, which said last week that its air force had struck intelligence assets of the Iranian-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah in the same area.

Sayeda Zainab, a stronghold of Hezbollah and the site of a major Shia shrine, has been the target in previous strikes. The heavily garrisoned area near the shrine is also a well known stronghold of Hezbollah, which is one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's chief allies.

Israel has ramped up strikes in Syria since the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel in 2023 and particularly since the escalation of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.

Syrian and Western intelligence sources say Israeli attacks in Syria have killed scores of Hezbollah and pro-Iranian militia fighters based around the eastern outskirts of Damascus and to the south of the city. However, Israel's strikes continued to kill or injure civilians alongside the group members.