Israeli attacks in Syria leave 14 dead, Syrian state reports…

DAMASCUS (AP) — The number of people killed in overnight Israeli strikes in Syria has risen to 14 and more than 40 injured, Syrian state media reported 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 reported. Masyaf National Hospital in the western province of Hama initially reported four deaths.

SANA, citing hospital director Faysal Haydar, said 14 people were killed and 43 wounded. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor based in Britain, said at least four of those killed were civilians.

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

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Israel has carried out hundreds of attacks on targets in government-controlled parts of war-torn Syria in recent years, but it rarely acknowledges or discusses these operations. The attacks are often directed against Syrian forces or groups backed by Iran.

Israel has announced that it will stop Iran's entrenchment in Syria, especially since Syria is an important route for Iran to supply weapons to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Against the backdrop of Israel's war against Hamas – an ally of Hezbollah – in the Gaza Strip, clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces have been taking place for eleven months.