Israel attacks missile depot, air defenses in Syria’s Tartus region. syrian war news
Israel recently launched overnight strikes on Syrian air defense systems and ammunition depots in its effort to disable the country’s military capability following the recent ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a war monitor, said on Monday that Israel targeted military sites including air defense units and a “surface-to-surface missile depot” in Syria’s coastal Tartus region, adding that The attack included the “heaviest attacks” in the region in more than a decade.
“The explosions in Tartus were extremely loud,” said Al Jazeera’s Resoul Serdar, reporting from the Syrian capital, Damascus. “Some experts are saying that maybe that means it was a chemical weapons production house.”
He said targeting Tartus was “crucial” given its role as a base for Syrian naval forces, adding that Israeli forces had destroyed “an entire fleet” only three days earlier.
According to Sardar, throughout the night, Israel bombed locations in and around Damascus, particularly around the Qasiyun Mountains, damaging “radar systems” and “air defense systems”.
He said officials expected attacks on the remaining “radar systems and battalions” to continue in the coming days.
The overnight raids in Tartus and Damascus marked the latest phase of an ongoing Israeli campaign, in which the military has hit the country with nearly 600 strikes in the eight days since al-Assad’s fall.
“Israel is pursuing a strategy to reduce this country’s air defense capability and also its air force,” Sardar said.
In parallel, Israeli troops have entered the UN-patrolled buffer zone that separates Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights, violating a 1974 ceasefire agreement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has also announced plans to increase the number of settlers in the Golan Heights, which it has illegally occupied since 1967.
Ahmed al-Sharaa, the de facto head of Syria’s new administration, has said that the country is in no position to enter any conflict “because of the general exhaustion in Syria”.
Separately, Syria’s Kurds, who run a semiautonomous administration in the northeast, called for “a halt to military operations on the entire Syrian territory in order to launch a constructive, comprehensive national dialogue.” In a statement at a press conference in Raqa on Monday, the administration also extended its hand to new authorities in Damascus.
International Outreach
Amid Israel’s attacks, the new administration is making progress with international “recognition”, Al Jazeera’s Sardar said, pointing to Turkey and Qatar opening embassies and recent contacts with US and UK officials.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced on Monday that she had instructed the bloc’s envoy to Syria to travel to Damascus and contact the country’s new government.
Western countries are wary of the new leadership in Damascus, given that al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group was previously affiliated with al-Qaeda.
The EU cut ties with the al-Assad regime in Damascus during the country’s civil war, but remains a major donor of humanitarian aid to help the local population.
Callas said EU foreign ministers would discuss in Brussels “how we engage with the new Syrian leadership, and at what level we engage”.
UN Syria envoy Geir Pedersen met al-Sharaa in Damascus on Sunday and said he hoped for an early end to sanctions to help the economic recovery.
A Qatari delegation also arrived in Syria on Sunday to meet with transitional government officials and pledged “full commitment to supporting the Syrian people.”
Acting Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said a French diplomatic team is also due to arrive in Damascus on Tuesday to “retake possession of our real estate” and make “initial contacts” with the new authorities.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country was coordinating on providing aid to Syria, including wheat, flour and oil.
