Video: Israeli Airstrikes Hit Syria’s Key Port City, Latakia

Israel has launched multiple airstrikes on Latakia, a major port city in northwestern Syria, early Thursday.

According to local media reports, Israeli strikes hit areas around Latakia’s port and a former military base of the 110th Naval Brigade, previously controlled by the Assad regime.

Ammunition depots near the Al-Abyad Port were also targeted. Authorities are currently assessing the extent of the damage, and no casualties have been officially confirmed.

The Syrian Defense Ministry has not yet released an official statement on the airstrikes.

Israel also carried out attacks in Daraa, a province in southern Syria. Per reports six people were killed in the Israeli military operation in Koya, a town in western Daraa.

Israeli forces stated that their artillery and airstrikes were in response to cross-border fire coming from inside Syria.

Multiple Israeli airstrikes targeted the Syrian port city of Latakia a short while ago. pic.twitter.com/EBQdyYqSKC

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Reports from open-source air traffic trackers suggest that a US Navy MQ-4C Triton surveillance drone was operating near Syria’s coastline during the Israeli strikes.

However, there has been no official confirmation of any US involvement in the operation.

Since Assad’s government fell, Israel has taken control of the Golan Heights’ demilitarized buffer zone, which was once a neutral area between Syria and Israel.

This has been described as a violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement between the two countries. Israel has also conducted hundreds of airstrikes in Syria, mainly targeting military sites, missile systems, and air defence facilities.

Israeli officials claim that these operations are intended to prevent advanced weaponry from reaching armed groups that pose a threat to their security.

Syria’s newly formed government, led by transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa, has not yet made an official statement on the continued Israeli airstrikes.

Al-Sharaa, a key figure in the anti-Assad movement, was declared president in January after opposition forces seized control of Damascus on December 8, forcing Assad to flee to Russia.

The Biden administration is evaluating the possibility of lifting some economic sanctions on Syria to support its new leadership in rebuilding the war-torn country. In return, the US is demanding.

• Complete destruction of all remaining chemical weapons from the Assad era
• A ban on foreign fighters operating within Syria
• Cooperation in counterterrorism efforts
• Assistance in locating missing journalist Austin Tice, a former US Marine who disappeared in Syria 10 years ago.

Per reports, Israeli forces have been conducting near-daily incursions beyond the demarcation line in southern Syria.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded the demilitarisation of Syria’s southern regions, which border the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

References: turkiyetoday, yenisafak

Source: Maritime Shipping News