Syria.. 7 civilians killed in Israeli bombing targeting a residential building in Damascus

Seven people were killed and 11 others were injured on Tuesday, according to the initial toll of the Israeli bombing of a residential building in the Mazzeh area of Damascus.

The official Syrian news agency (SANA) quoted a military source as saying that at around 20:15 local time, "the Israeli enemy launched an air aggression with three missiles from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting a residential and commercial building in the densely populated Mezzeh neighborhood in Damascus."

The source added that as a result of the targeting, "7 civilians, including children and women, were killed and 11 others were injured, as a preliminary toll. The bombing also caused significant material damage to private property in the surrounding area, and work is still ongoing to rescue others from under the rubble."

Earlier, Syrian media reported that a violent air strike targeted the Mezzeh area in Damascus, without mentioning details about the target, amid talk of an assassination of an unidentified person.

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❗️❗️Photos from Damascus, Syria where a specific apartment in a multi-story building was targeted.

The attack took place near the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus. https://t.co/tIolcsUCqu pic.twitter.com/vvfYs5BAFI

— ⭐ Index Hakeem 🔭⭐ (@hakrashaa) October 8, 2024

She added that the Israeli bombing of Damascus targeted an apartment inside a building near the Sheikh Saad area in the Mazzeh neighborhood.

The same media outlets indicated that air defenses intercepted "hostile" targets around Damascus.

Scenes broadcast by local Syrian accounts and platforms showed destruction in the targeted building in the Mazzeh neighborhood.

The footage also showed ambulances and rescue teams arriving at the building targeted by the Israeli airstrike.

An AFP correspondent at the scene reported that the raid destroyed the first three floors of the building, located in a crowded residential area, and more than 20 cars parked there.

The Iranian embassy in Syria said that no Iranian citizen was among the dead or injured in the new Israeli attack on Damascus.

A video clip showing the effects of the Israeli bombing in the Mezzeh neighborhood in Damascus, which targeted an apartment in Building 14, injuring civilians and destroying cars and shops. #Voice_of_the_Capital #Syria #Mezzeh #Israel pic.twitter.com/Wiy3ew4M4y

— Voice of the Capital (@damascusv011) October 8, 2024

In response to the bombing of Damascus, the American newspaper, The New York Times, quoted the Israeli army as saying, “We have no comment on this matter.”

Last Wednesday, at least 4 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Mezzeh neighborhood as well.

The Mezzeh district includes a military airport and a prison inside it, in addition to security and government headquarters, embassies and diplomatic missions.

Several Syrian regions, including Damascus, have been subjected to repeated Israeli raids in the past period, targeting sites belonging to the army and others that Tel Aviv says belong to Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah.

Israel rarely confirms carrying out strikes, but has repeatedly countered what it describes as Iran's attempts to entrench its military presence in Syria.

(Al Jazeera + Agencies)