At least five people died, and 15 were critically injured in the Syrian capital on 19 February after Israeli warplanes dropped bombs on a building in central Damascus’ Kafr Sousa neighborhood, reportedly targeting a security complex close to an Iranian cultural center.

Breaking News: Israeli missile attack on Syria's capital pic.twitter.com/8mKDzxBslx

— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) February 18, 2023

“At 00:22 am (2222 GMT), the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial aggression from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights targeting several areas in Damascus and its vicinity, including residential neighborhoods,” Syria’s defense ministry said in a statement.

Images posted online show that a 10-story building was severely damaged in the attack, crushing the structure of its lower floors as large chunks of the building were fell onto the street below.

Syria was attacked by the Israeli Air Force

Damascus airport and military facilities in the vicinity of the Syrian capital have been hit with missiles.

There is also information about a rocket hitting a residential building in the Kafr-Sousa area in the south of Damascus. pic.twitter.com/boGLH7fFTC

— 301 Military (@301military) February 18, 2023

“The strike on Sunday is the deadliest Israeli attack in the Syrian capital,” the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.

The Israeli attack comes as Syria continues to reel from a devastating earthquake that left close to 6,000 dead and leveled large swathes of the country’s northwest region.

As has become the norm, Tel Aviv has not made any comments about their latest violation of Syrian sovereignty. Last month, an Israeli missile attack hit Damascus International Airport, killing four people, including two soldiers.

Israel has been launching attacks inside Syria for nearly a decade, allegedly targeting suspected Iranian and Hezbollah positions. Israeli war planes at times bombed Syrian army positions to assist offensives of the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front during the Western, Turkish, and Gulf-backed Salafist insurgency that began in 2011.

Last week, an Israeli military official declared Tel Aviv will not hesitate to bomb Iranian aid deliveries for disaster-struck Syria under claims that Tehran seeks to “take advantage of the tragic situation … to send weapons and equipment to Hezbollah.”

Israel’s newest threat comes just two weeks after its drones bombed three Iranian food trucks loaded with flour and rice as they headed from Iraq into Syria.

The trucks were attempting to legally enter Syria through the Al-Bukamal border crossing days after it was opened for commercial trucks for the first time since 2019.

Israel has previously prevented aid from arriving in Syria by bombing the country’s airports, using similar claims of “weapons deliveries” from Iran.