Car Explosion in Damascus Leaves One Dead; Two Hezbollah Members Killed in Drone Attack Attributed to Israel

A car bomb explosion in Damascus, the capital of Syria, left one person dead. Reports indicate that the deceased had close ties to the Islamic Republic. According to Syrian state media, the bomb exploded early Saturday in the 'Mazzeh' neighborhood in the western part of the Syrian capital, which houses several diplomatic missions. The Iranian consulate, which was targeted in the deadly attack attributed to Israel, is also located in this neighborhood. During that attack, seven people were killed, including two senior military officials of the Islamic Republic and one member of the Lebanese militia Hezbollah. This incident was met with a response from the Islamic Republic and a direct military attack on Israel, raising concerns about the potential for a large-scale war in the region. In recent months, this heavily protected area of Damascus has been targeted multiple times by airstrikes, most of which aimed at Iranian officials. Syrian state news agencies did not mention the identity of the deceased but reported that two other vehicles caught fire during the explosion. According to Rami Abdul Rahman, a member of a Syrian human rights group based in Britain, the man killed in the explosion was a Syrian army officer with close ties to the Islamic Republic. Meanwhile, some news reports indicated an Israeli drone attack on a vehicle and a truck in western Syria. This attack occurred hours after the Damascus explosion, outside the city of 'Qusair' in northwestern Syria, near the Lebanese border. The vehicle and truck were targeted near the 'Dabaa' airbase, where Hezbollah forces are present. Israeli drones have attacked this area multiple times in recent weeks. The news site 'i24' reported that two Hezbollah fighters were killed in this drone attack. Israel typically does not comment on these attacks and does not deny its involvement.