The war monitoring group said that Israeli air strikes on the Syrian capital Damascus and surrounding areas today killed 20 people, including Palestinian militants and Iranian-backed fighters. Such attacks on Syria intensified during the war in Lebanon.

According to reports from Agence France-Presse and Reuters, today’s Israeli air strikes coincided with Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, officially visiting Damascus and meeting with Syrian President Assad. (Bashar al-Assad).

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said: “Israeli air strikes in Mazzeh and Qudsaya districts have increased to 20 killed and 21 injured.”