Israel carries out fresh strikes in northwest Syria: What to know
Following last week’s strikes just south of Damascus, Israel’s military said it conducted another round of strikes on Monday on military targets in northwestern Syria.
The Israeli military conducted strikes on military sites in northwest Syria on Monday amid growing tension between Israel and the new Syrian government.
Syria’s official SANA news agency stated Monday that Israel conducted air strikes near the Tartous area, a port city, with no casualties reported. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Agence France-Presse that an explosion was heard at a military base near the port just as the strikes were conducted.
The Israeli military has not confirmed a strike on Tartous but on Monday announced that it had conducted a strike on a military site in Al Qardaha, which is roughly 40 miles north of Tartous. Al Qardaha — the hometown of ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and an Alawite stronghold — is part of the Latakia governorate. In a post to X Monday, the Israeli military said it had targeted “a military site where weapons belonging to the previous regime were stored.”
Why it matters: Israel has struck Syria several times since the rebel offensive led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) toppled Assad in December, and Israeli leaders have grown increasingly vocal about the situation across the border. Last week, Israel said they struck military targets south of Damascus as part of their goal to “pacify” southern Syria.
“We will not allow southern Syria to become southern Lebanon,” a spokesperson for Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
Days after Assad’s fall, Israel said it carried out 480 strikes in Syria targeting weapons stockpiles. Israel moved its forces into parts of southern Syria at the same time, saying Damascus was no longer abiding by the 1974 border agreement following the collapse of the government. Syria’s transitional government has condemned Israel’s actions while adding they do not pose a threat to their neighbors.
A transitional government led by HTS and its leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, took power in Syria after Assad’s ouster. Sharaa was named interim president last month at a meeting of former rebel groups.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that Israel would not allow any forces affiliated with Syria’s new rulers to operate south of Damascus, an area close to the Israeli border, demanding the “demilitarization of southern Syria.” Netanyahu added that Israel will not tolerate any “threats” to the Druze ethno-religious community in southern Syria.
On Saturday, Netanyahu and Katz ordered the Israeli military to “prepare to defend” Druze residents in the city of Jaramana, south of Damascus, following clashes between armed Druze gunmen and government forces. Syria’s transitional authorities have struggled to maintain security in parts of the country since December.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar referred to Syria’s new government as a “jihadist Islamist terror group” at a conference in Brussels last week. HTS follows an Islamist ideology and split from al-Qaeda in 2016.
Know more: Meanwhile, in eastern Syria, an explosion killed three and injured 20 others in the Deir ez-Zor countryside, according to SANA. Syrian Civil Defense teams reportedly recovered the bodies and transported those injured to receive medical care. The cause of the explosion remains unknown.
Despite an air of cautious optimism in Syria, the country remains on the razor’s edge as the nascent government attempts to maintain stability amid Israeli strikes and military presence in the south, a flailing economy and various external actors vying for influence.
