Beirut, Lebanon  -  Four pro-Iran fighters were among five people killed in overnight Israeli strikes in north and northwest Syria, a war monitor said on Saturday. “Four Syrian pro-Iran fighters were killed in Israeli air strikes on the scientific research centre and warehouses near Safira east of Aleppo,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The Britain-based monitor said two other raids further west targeting Saraqeb in Idlib province killed a fifth person. It said these strikes targeted two headquarters of Syrian regime forces frequented by members of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group. Since Syria’s civil war broke out in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria, mainly targeting army positions and fighters including from Hezbollah. Israeli authorities rarely comment on the strikes, but have repeatedly said they will not allow arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence in Syria. The monitor said the Idlib raids took place near the front line of the jihadist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the main rebel organisation active in the area.