Iran accuses Israel of killing top commander in airstrike

Since Israel launched its war on the besieged Gaza Strip on October 7 following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, Israel has ramped up air strikes in Syria against Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia and Iran’s IRGC, both of which support the government of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad. The strike in Damascus comes just days after Israeli air strikes killed dozens of people in Syria’s northern province of Aleppo, amid fears that the Gaza war could lead to a broader regional escalation.