Israeli strike on Damascus kills four Iranian Revolutionary Guards - including top official
An Israeli missile strike on Damascus has killed four members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, including the head of the force's information unit in Syria.
The Israel Defence Forces has been stepping up its attacks on Iran-linked targets in Syria, shifting from bombing to missile strikes following the Gaza invasion.
A security source in the regional pro-Syria alliance reported the incident happened on Saturday.
The IDF is taking further action after Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched its attack on Israel on October 7.
Syrian state media said a building in the Mazzeh neighbourhood of Damascus was targeted in a likely Israeli attack, without giving further details. Other local media in Syria said explosions were heard across the Syrian capital.
The security source, part of a network of groups close to Syria's government and its major ally Iran, said the multi-storey building was used by Iranian advisers supporting President Bashar al-Assad's government, and that it was entirely flattened by "precision-targeted Israeli missiles".
Iran's state-run Press TV said two Iranian Guards military advisers were killed in the Israeli strike on Damascus.
There was no immediate comment from Israel.
Essam Al-Amin, head of the Al-Mowasat Hospital in Damascus, told Reuters that his hospital had received one corpse and three wounded people, including a woman, following Saturday's attack.
A spokesman for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad said that no members of their group were wounded in the strike, following reports that some were at the bombed-out building.
In December, an Israeli strike killed two guards members in Damascus.
Another on Christmas Day killed a senior adviser to the guards who was overseeing military coordination between Syria and Iran.