Shafaq News/ On Saturday, the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami, accused Israel of inciting turmoil in Syria, following what he described as its “strategic defeats” in Gaza and Lebanon.

In remarks reported by the Tasnim news agency, Salami said, "After the strategic defeats suffered by Israel on the fronts of Gaza and Lebanon, the Takfiri terrorist groups, under the direction and leadership of those defeated in the battlefields of Gaza and southern Lebanon [Israelis], launched new brutal attacks on Syria in recent days."

He added that these attacks "were met with responses from the army and popular forces in this country."

Salami also mourned the death of a senior Iranian military adviser, saying, "These crimes claimed the life of the valiant and brave commander of the Revolutionary Guard, Kiomars (Hashem) Pourhashemi, known as Haj Hashem." He described Haj Hashem as a prominent Iranian military adviser in Syria.

Earlier on Saturday, the Syrian army reported that armed terrorist groups, affiliated with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra and bolstered by thousands of foreign fighters, heavy weaponry, and drones, had launched a wide-scale offensive on the Aleppo and Idlib fronts.

On Friday, these militant groups entered the city of Aleppo after a surprise attack that began two days earlier, marking the fiercest assault on government forces in years. The attack also enabled the groups to seize the city of Saraqib in Idlib province.

This is the first time armed factions have entered Aleppo since President Bashar al-Assad’s government regained full control of the city in 2016.