Syrian government, media reports Israeli airstrikes

Syria's Defence Ministry and state media reported overnight Israeli airstrikes near Damascus on Saturday, albeit not reporting any casualties or injuries.

"At approximately 1:35 a.m. today (Friday, 2235 GMT/UTC), the Israeli enemy carried out an air assualt from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights, targeting some points near the city of Damascus," the Syrian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry statement followed similar reports on state television.

Israel has struck government-controlled territory in Syria on a relatively small scale several times since Hamas' October 7 attacks and also on a fairly regular basis since the start of the Syrian civil war back in 2011.

It's comparatively rare, however, for Israel to comment on the strikes, which often target Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Syria or other similar groups.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor based in the UK, said the strikes hit in the area of the south Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab, where it said that "there are military forces working with the Lebanese Hezbollah."

Hamas is a militant, Islamist, Palestinian group. The European Union as well as the United States, Germany and several other countries classify Hamas as a terrorist organization.

Hezbollah is an Iran-backed Shiite political party and militant group in Lebanon. Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization by the US, Germany and several Sunni Arab countries, while the EU lists its armed wing as a terrorist group.