On July 25, warplanes of the Syrian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Forces bombed positions of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra) and its allies near the villages of al-Bawabiya, al-Atarib, Qammari, al-Barqoum, Urem al-Kubra, and Kafr Halab, and the Base 46 area. According to pro-militant sources, the Syrians and Russians delivered dozens of airstrikes aiming gatherings of equipment and military infrastructure.

The strikes came in response to the July 24 rocket shelling on Aleppo’s city center that killed at least 3 civilians and injured many others. Pro-government activists accused Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and the Turkish-backed National Front for Liberation of carrying out the attack.

On the same day, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham announced that its special forces had ambushed a unit of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) near Qasabiyeh in northern Hama. A military source denied HTS’ claims and told SouthFront that northern Hama did not witness any infiltration attempt during the mentioned period. This explains why the terrorist group’s claims did not include the results of the supposed attack.

Mashhour Zaydan, a Syrian commander affiliated with Hezbollah, was killed in western Damascus, Syrian sources confirmed on July 22. Zyadan was killed in the morning of July 21 when a guided projectile hit his car near Sasa in western Damascus. The strike also killed a 3-year old girl and injured three women, who were near.

Israel repeatedly claimed that Hezbollah is establishing a network in al-Qunitra’s countryside in cooperation with local commanders and warned that it will not tolerate such developments.

On July 24, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) struck SAA positions at Tell al-Harrah in western Daraa and Tell al- Ahmar in al-Quneitra’s countryside. Nonetheless, the strike led to no casualties among SAA personnel. According to Syrian sources, the IDF used Spike NLOS ground-to-ground missiles.

Additionally, the IDF accused Hezbollah of smuggling weapons and missile manufacturing materials through Beirut Port. Lieutenant Colonel Avichay Adraee claimed that Hezbollah is doing this in cooperation with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

These remarks went in the framework of Israel’s general policy in the region that is mostly based on opposing the growing influence of Iran and Hezbollah. In 2018, Israeli officials even threatened to strike supposed Hezbollah missile sites in Lebanon.

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