FLASH
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The airstrike in Damascus is further escalating the situation in the Middle East. Iran blames Israel and is threatening it with retaliation, a clear indication of rising tensions in the region.
According to a new report by the NGO Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 10 people, including five members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, were killed in an airstrike attributed to Israel against a building in Damascus.
"The death toll rose from six to 10 after bodies were recovered from the rubble," said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based non-governmental organization that has a large network resources in Syria.
The strike, using precision-guided missiles, reportedly leveled a high-rise building in the Syrian capital's Maze district, home to the UN headquarters and foreign embassies.
Iran blamed Israel for the attack, threatening retaliation "at the right time and place," according to an Iranian diplomatic statement.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani unequivocally condemned the criminal act of the Zionist regime, which is a desperate attempt to spread instability and insecurity in the region.
"In addition to the political, judicial and international prosecution of these aggressive and criminal actions, the Islamic Republic of Iran reserves the right to respond to the organized terrorism of the false Zionist regime at the appropriate time and place," he added.
"Dead Iranian General"
The Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed that four of its members were killed in today's attack.
Late Saturday afternoon, another member of the Revolutionary Guard died of his wounds, bringing the total number of members of Iran's ideological army killed to five, according to Iranian media.
"One of the wounded from the strike by the Zionist regime surrendered," Iraqi forces announced in a statement, quoted by the Mehr news agency.
According to the announcement of the Guard, Mohammad Amin Samadi "has fallen a martyr" in Syria.
Iranian media reported that one of the victims is General Sandeh Ominzadeh, the head of the Syrian intelligence service for the Quds Force, Iran's foreign operations arm. This information has not been officially confirmed.
For the spokesman of Iranian diplomacy, the frequent violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria and the escalation of aggressive and provocative actions against various targets in that country demonstrate Israel's weakness and desperation on the battlefield against the resistance forces in Gaza and the West Bank during last 100 days.
Diffusion risk
Israel has been waging a bombing campaign against Iran-linked targets in Syria for years, however, it has stepped up attacks since the events of October 7, when 1,200 Israelis were killed in a Hamas incursion into southern Israel.
In December, an Israeli strike killed two guardsmen, and another on December 25 killed a senior Guards associate overseeing military coordination between Syria and Iran.
The attacks in Damascus partially confirm the fears of the international community about the spread of violence in the Middle East. Already, Israel is striking military targets in Lebanon and Syria, while the Houthis, in a campaign of solidarity with Hamas, are attacking dozens of merchant ships in the Red Sea, which they suspect are linked to Israel.
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