A senior Iranian general is killed by an Israeli airstrike in Syria

Iranian state media reported that an Israeli airstrike in Damascus on Monday killed a top general.

Iranian officials and regional militant groups vowed revenge for the killing but did not immediately strike.

Seyed Razi Mousavi, a longtime Iranian Revolutionary Guard adviser in Syria, was killed amid fears of a regional spillover from the Israel-Hamas war. Iran-backed groups in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq have attacked Israel and its allies for Hamas.

Daily missile, airstrike, and shelling between Hezbollah and Israel along the Lebanon-Israel border have intensified.

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi said Mousavi was “martyred while serving as an adviser for the resistance front, defending holy shrines in Syria as well as safeguarding Islamic ideals.” He warned the “Israeli regime will definitely pay for this crime.”

IRNA did not provide other details about the attack, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Israeli military targeted Mousavi after he entered a farm that was allegedly a Hezbollah office. The Lebanese militant group, Iran, and Russia have helped President Bashar Assad maintain power in Syria.