UPDATE - Israeli airstrikes target bridges in Syria near border with Lebanon: State media

ADDS STATEMENT FROM ISRAELI ARMY

By Yusuf Alioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Israeli airstrikes targeted three bridges and a border crossing in Al Qusayr district in Syria’s Homs governorate near the Lebanese border, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported Monday.

"The Israeli aggression occurred around 9 p.m. (1800GMT) and targeted key crossing points previously hit on the Syrian-Lebanese border," the agency cited an unnamed military official as saying.

The official added that the Israeli aggression "resulted in two civilian injuries and material damage."

SANA's correspondent in the region reported that the al-Jobania, Arjoun and al-Daf bridges as well as the Al-Nizariya border gate were damaged in the Israeli attack.

Later, the Israeli army claimed responsibility for the attack. A military statement said that “the IAF (air force) conducted intelligence-based strikes on Syrian routes along the Syria-Lebanon border used as smuggling routes to transfer weapons to Hezbollah.”

Israel, which rarely comments on military operations, has conducted airstrikes in Syria since 2011, with its focus on targets belonging to Iranian and Syrian forces and the Lebanese Hezbollah group.

The latest airstrikes highlight continuing regional tensions amid Israel’s military offensives in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

Israel has continued a deadly offensive on Gaza since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas in October last year, killing more than 44,230 people, mostly women and children, and injuring over 104,600.

The conflict has spread to Lebanon, with Israel launching deadly strikes across the country in an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of the Gaza war.