Syrian rebels (file)
Syrian rebels (file)Reuters

Hezbollah has accused Israel of being directly involved with ISIS and the Syrian rebel forces, Syrian television reported Wednesday - claiming the Jewish state orchestrated the deaths of five nuclear technicians at a Syrian nuclear facility in Barzeh several days ago on behalf of the rebel forces. 

Hezbollah said that the deaths were the result of "Israel's actions as part of its ongoing support of the Zionist enemy in Syria," and that Israel "supports and helps radical Islamic groups in the country," according to translations provided by Channel 10.

All sides in the Syrian conflict regularly accuse each other of being "Zionists."

A Hezbollah commander also cited the assassination of top terrorist and weapons expert Hassan Lakkis in December of last year as being an Israeli plot, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Lakkis was gunned down by unknown assassins outside Beirut in December 2013. Two Sunni Islamist factions claimed responsibility for the assassination, but Hezbollah has repeatedly accused Israel.

Hezbollah added that one of the workers killed earlier this week was an Iranian citizen - a fact confirmed by the Intel Times, which described him as a nuclear technician. Iran said in July that it would assist the Syrian government in rebuilding higher education institutions damaged by rebel forces by fostering "scientific cooperation" and providing equipment for laboratories. 

Hezbollah has provided ddirect support to Assad’s troops in the war against rebels trying to topple him. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has promised that his group will be wherever is needed in Syria and has also declared he was willing to go fight in Syria himself.

Iran, is the Assad regime's most crucial backer, and has provided the Syrian army with military support during his fight against the rebels. Tehran has also recruited and trained tens of thousands of Shia Islamist militiamen to fight Sunni rebels in both Syria and Iraq.

This is not the first time an attack has been launched on the Barzeh nuclear facility. 

In July last year, six people who worked at the same center were killed in a mortar attack carried out by rebels seeking President Bashar Al-Assad's ouster, noted AFP.

Another military research center, also near Damascus, was also hit by an airstrike in May of 2013, which the Syrian foreign ministry had blamed on Israel.