An Israeli airstrike on an airport in Syria has reportedly killed 11 senior Iranian officers, Saudi Arabian news outlet Al Arabiya reported, citing unnamed sources.
The officers were part of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and they had been at Damascus International Airport to welcome a "senior delegation," per the report.
The IRGC members managed Iran-backed forces in eastern Syria, the report adds.
The IRGC has refuted the claim, with Ramezan Sharif, a spokesperson for the group, labeling the report "baseless," Iranian state media agency the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.
The Israel Defense Forces told Business Insider it had "no comment" on the reports.
Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that "should the strike be independently verified, it would be more proof of Israel being able to hold back and deter elements of the Axis of Resistance in other geographies while fighting to defeat Hamas in Gaza."
Iran-backed groups in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq have launched attacks on Israel and its allies in support of Hamas.
Taleblu added that "the IRGC has long seen Syria as a critical regional hub to project power into the Eastern Mediterranean" and that "it should come as a shock to no one that Guard Corps elite are operating there."
It comes after an Israeli airstrike on the Syrian capital on Monday killed a top commander and senior advisor in the IRGC.
The Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, said Israel had committed a "strategic mistake" by killing General Sayyed Razi Mousavi in the strike, saying it would increase resistance against the country, per the IRNA.
The IRGC responded to the news by saying Israel would suffer for the killing.
"The usurper and savage Zionist regime will pay for this crime," the group said in a TV statement, per Reuters.
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