Heavy Israeli airstrikes reported on Syrian military sites in coastal Tartus region

Latest raids said to hit sites including air defense units and surface-to-surface missile depots; war monitor calls them ‘heaviest strikes in Syria’s coastal region since 2012’

An explosion from alleged Israeli airstrikes on weapons depots in the Syrian coastal area of Tartus, early December 16, 2024. (Screenshot: X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
An explosion from alleged Israeli airstrikes on weapons depots in the Syrian coastal area of Tartus, early December 16, 2024. (Screenshot: X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Heavy Israeli airstrikes were reported in Syria’s coastal Tartus region overnight Sunday-Monday, allegedly targeting military sites, in the latest such raids since rebels brought down Bashar al-Assad’s regime last week.

The attacks were reported by local media and several monitors, with some footage distributed on social media showing explosions, ostensibly from the bombings.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said early Monday that Israel Defense Forces jets had targeted a series of sites, including air defense units and surface-to-surface missile depots, calling the campaign “the heaviest strikes in Syria’s coastal region since the start of strikes in 2012.”

The Israeli military did not immediately comment, and the SOHR report could not be independently verified.

The reported strikes followed a major campaign launched by Israel after the fall of the Assad regime on December 8 to destroy the Syrian military’s strategic military capabilities, in a bid to prevent them from falling into the hands of hostile elements. Targets have included chemical weapons sites, missiles, air defenses and air force and navy targets.

Last week the military said it had so far destroyed some 80 percent of Syrian  military capabilities and would continue to take action.

In an interview with the Syrian TV news channel on Saturday, the leader of the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), who spearheaded the overthrow of the Assad regime, said that Israel had “no more excuses” to carry out airstrikes in Syria.

Better known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Julani, Ahmad al-Sharaa said that the recent IDF attacks on Syrian soil had crossed red lines and threatened an unjustified escalation in the region.

But he also appeared to indirectly respond to Israeli concerns and offer reassurance that the new Syrian government would not threaten the Jewish state or allow Iran to reestablish itself in Syria. He said that Syria was exhausted by years of civil war and that at this stage it would not be dragged into conflicts that may lead to further destruction, but would rather focus on reconstruction and stability.

Abu Mohammed al-Golani speaks at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, December 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

As well as the major aerial campaign, Israel also entered a United Nations-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights just hours after the rebels, led by HTS, took Damascus. Israel has said it will not become involved in the conflict in Syria and that its seizure of the buffer zone established in 1974 was a temporary defensive move that would last only until it could guarantee security along the frontier.

Israel and Syria do not have diplomatic relations and have formally been in a perpetual state of war since Israel declared independence in 1948.

While the fall of the Assad regime, which stood for over five decades, could provide a historic opportunity for recognition between Israel and its neighbor, the potential power vacuum in Syria could also lead to further chaos and serve as a breeding ground for a resurgence of terror in the region.

Gianluca Pacchiani and Agencies contributed to this report. 

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