Israel has reportedly carried out airstrikes against Hezbollah terror group and Syrian government targets Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Syrian opposition media has reported that Israel carried out airstrikes against Hezbollah terror group and Syrian government targets around Syria’s Qalamoun Mountains on Monday evening.

A report by the Syrian opposition news website Al-Souria Net said that eight Hezbollah fighters and five Syrian soldiers were killed in the raids.

“After several hours of reconnaissance flights above the area, Israeli planes suddenly launched two raids on a joint Assad forces and Hezbollah position,” Al-Souria Net reported. “This was immediately followed by a third raid.The Israeli planes resumed their attack with a fourth air raid after several minutes, targeting a Hezbollah position in western Qalamoun.”

The Qalamoun area is a major area of weapons transfers between Hezbollah and the Syrian regime.

Israel also reportedly carried out airstrikes near the Damascus airport on Nov. 11. Those strikes targeted weapons shipments intended for Hezbollah.

Amid the latest Israeli strikes, the tense situation in Syria continued to escalate on Tuesday, with Turkish F-16s shooting down a Russian Su-24 fighter jet along the Turkish-Syrian border.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Su-24 aircraft was flying over Syrian airspace when the plane was hit, but Turkish officials said the plane violated Turkey’s airspace. Putin said the the move by NATO member Turkey would have “serious consequences” for Russia-Turkey relations.