DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Israeli bombardment of military sites near Damascus on Wednesday killed 23 people, mostly non-Syrian fighters, after the Syrian regime spoke of the deaths of two civilians, human rights sources said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 23 people, including 16 non-Syrian fighters and two civilians, were killed in the strikes on Syrian regime and Iranian forces.

The Syrian regime's official news agency said two people were killed and others wounded in the Israeli shelling near Damascus, adding that Syrian air defenses responded to what it described as a heavy attack and managed to intercept hostile missiles and destroy most of them before reaching their targets.

The Israeli military said on Wednesday morning that it had launched a "large-scale" strike against "a dozen military targets" of the Syrian regime and the Iranian Qods Force, including military headquarters and warehouses, and destroyed air defense batteries.

The Israeli army announced on Tuesday that its air defenses intercepted four rockets fired from Syria.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "I have made it clear that no matter who will harm us, we will respond painfully, and so we did against the military targets of the Iranian Qods Force and Syrian military installations after yesterday's rockets were fired at Israel, we will be steadfast in ensuring Israel's security." .

Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus said the attack was "very quick and intense, and the main target was the glass facility in the military perimeter of Damascus International Airport," adding that it was "the main building used by the Revolutionary Guards to coordinate the transfer of military equipment from Iran to Syria and beyond." that".

An Israeli security source said the raids included three tactical targets in the Golan and six batteries belonging to the Syrian air defense system.

The Syrian Observatory said that the strikes led to the destruction of Syrian air defense batteries at the Mezze military airport, weapons depots belonging to the Iranian Quds Force in al-Kiswah area, and another warehouse near the suburb of Qudsaya and the vicinity of Sehnaya in Damascus countryside.

At the same time, the Lebanese National News Agency reported that "hostile warplanes" carried out "mock low-altitude raids" over Tire in southern Lebanon.

Reuters AlertNet - Israeli shelling of Damascus perimeter

International responses
"All this is very bad," Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said in a statement, saying the Israeli raid was "completely against international law."

The statement expressed Russia's concern over the Israeli attacks against Syrian territory, which worsened the situation in this country, calling for respect for the sovereignty of Syria and the countries of the region.

"Russia condemns the Israeli raids that hit Iranian positions in Damascus," said Syrian politician and media figure Omar Madania on Twitter. "Israeli planes do not carry out any raid in Syria unless they coordinate with Russia. They have said it more than once."

France said it insisted on "Israel's security" and urged Iran to "refrain from any destabilizing action in Syria," reiterating that there was "no military solution" in the country.