Israeli attack kills three civilians in Syria's Damascus, state TV says | News on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

A television presenter was killed in an Israeli attack on the Syrian capital, according to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency.

Three civilians were killed and nine others injured in Israeli attacks on the Syrian capital Damascus, state media said.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) previously reported that its TV presenter Safaa Ahmad was killed on Tuesday in a “treacherous Israeli aggression” against the Syrian capital.

Footage posted on social media appeared to show a car engulfed in flames on a street surrounded by apartment blocks.

It was not clear whether the presenter was among three civilian victims mentioned by state media.

Israel's defense and military ministries did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The reports of Israeli attacks on the Syrian capital came as the military began “limited, localized and targeted” ground attacks in neighboring Lebanon, significantly escalating its offensive against the armed group Hezbollah.

At least 95 people were killed and 172 others injured in Israeli strikes across Lebanon on Monday, according to Lebanese authorities.

In his first address since Israel's killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, the group's deputy leader Naim Qassem said Monday that its forces were “prepared and ready” for a ground invasion.

“We will win, just as we won in our confrontation with Israel in 2006,” Qassem said in a video message.

The spillover of fighting into Lebanon and Syria has raised fears that the war in Gaza could escalate into a larger regional conflict.

On Monday, US President Joe Biden called for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week rejected proposals for a ceasefire with Hezbollah after the United States, the European Union, Australia and a number of other countries jointly called for a 21-day pause in fighting.

“We continue to strike Hezbollah with full force,” Netanyahu told reporters as he arrived in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly.

“And we will not stop until we achieve all of our goals, especially the safe return of northern residents to their homes.”