Israeli strikes in Syria leave 14 dead and more than 40 wounded, Syrian state media says

DAMASCUS -- The number of people killed in overnight Israeli strikes in Syria has risen to 14 with more than 40 wounded, Syrian state media said Monday morning.

Israeli strikes hit several areas in central Syria late Sunday, damaging a highway in Hama province and sparking fires, Syrian state news agency SANA said. The initial death count reported by the Masyaf National Hospital in western Hamas province was four.

SANA, citing hospital head Faysal Haydar, said 14 were killed and 43 wounded. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor, said at least four of those killed were civilians.

One of the strikes targeted a scientific research center in Maysaf and others struck sites where “Iranian militias and experts are stationed to develop weapons in Syria,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Local media also reported strikes around the coastal city of Tartous.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of war-torn Syria in recent years, but it rarely acknowledges or discusses the operations. The strikes often target Syrian forces or Iranian-backed groups.

Israel has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment in Syria, particularly since Syria is a key route for Iran to send weapons to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Hezbollah has been clashing with Israeli forces for the past 11 months against the backdrop of Israel’s war against Hamas — an ally of Hezbollah — in Gaza.