42 Hezbollah, Iran combatants killed in Damascus

Ynetnews -- Syrian rebels are claiming they carried out a strike in Damascus where many Hezbollah and Iranian combatants were concentrated. According to a report in Al-Arabiya, 42 men were killed in what the rebels described as a "quality operation."

Last month, Iranian President Hassan Rohani said that Syria will "overcome the current crisis" and sent a letter to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, saying Iran backs the "steadfast nation" of Lebanon.

A week earlier, Hezbollah officials held meetings with Revolutionary Guard officials in Iran to explain their predicament in the wake of heavy losses incurred in the Syrian civil war. Hezbollah is also under pressure in Lebanon to cease its involvement in the Syria crisis.

The London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat further reported that Shiites in Lebanon, mainly those residing in the Baalbek area, have met with Muhammad Yazbek, a member of Hezbollah's Shura Council, and asked that the terror group stop sending their children to Syria.

The parents told Yazbek their children fought against Israel in the Second Lebanon War and in previous wars to answer the call to resist the "Israeli occupation," but said they could not remain silent while Hezbollah fights the Syrian people under the excuse of protecting the Assad regime.

Meanwhile, Israel continues to treat wounded Syrians hurt in the battles. A Syrian citizen who sustained serious injuries was taken to the Ziv Medical Center in Safed on Sundat where he underwent surgery. To date, the hospital has treated 57 Syrians hurt in the civil war.

Saturday saw more than 30 people, mostly civilians, killed in Syrian army air raids in the rebel-held cities of Homs and Raqa. Human rights groups reported that 20 people were killed in another airstrike in Latakia several hours earlier.