Tuesday Briefing: Iran Said Israel Killed Top Generals

At least seven officers including three generals overseeing Iran’s covert operations in the Middle East were killed in an Israeli strike in Syria yesterday, according to Iranian and Syrian officials.

The strike on the Iranian Embassy complex in Damascus appeared to be among the deadliest attacks in a yearslong shadow war between Israel and Iran.

Among those killed was Gen. Mohamad Reza Zahedi, 65, who oversaw Iran’s covert military operations in Syria and Lebanon, two other generals and four officers, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said in a statement. Four Israeli officials confirmed that Israel had carried out the attack.

Iran’s ambassador to Syria, Hossein Akbari, said in a statement that the Iranian consulate’s building came under attack by two F-35 fighter jets. “This attack will have our fierce response,” he said, according to Iranian media.

Details: The strike targeted a secret meeting between Iranian intelligence officials and Palestinian militants to discuss the war in Gaza, Iranian officials said. Among them were leaders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a group armed and funded by Iran.

In Gaza: Israel withdrew from Al-Shifa, a major hospital, after a two-week battle, leaving widespread devastation.