As Israeli forces continue to pound alleged Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, they are — in parallel — intensifying attacks on neighboring Syria, striking a weapons depot on Syrian’s western coast overnight, according to local media reports. The reports cited a significant explosion in the vicinity of the Hmeimim Air Base in Latakia governorate that is used by Russian forces deployed to support the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The missiles reportedly targeted the nearby Bassel al-Assad International Airport in Jableh.

Syrian and Russian air defenses sought to intercept the missiles targeting Jableh, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based conflict monitor with sources on the ground, said. One Syrian media source claimed that Israeli aircraft had bombed Hmeimim an hour after the arrival of an Iranian plane ostensibly bearing weapons.

Hours earlier, Syria’s official news agency, SANA, reported that an Israeli airstrike targeted a residential building in Damascus, killing at least three people and injuring three others.

The reports have yet to be officially confirmed. Israel routinely carries out airstrikes against Iran and its affiliates in Syria, though it never formally acknowledges this. Any direct attack on Hmeimim would mark a significant escalation and is highly unlikely. Israel and Russia have long had a tacit deal whereby the former is permitted to strike Hezbollah and Iranian military assets as well as Iranian-backed Shiite militias inside Syria.