Israel carried out an airstrike in Syria on Monday evening, targeting a military facility near the city of Tartous, in the country’s northwestern coastal region.
The strike was first reported by Syrian media, with the state-run SANA news agency saying there were “airstrikes carried out by Israeli occupation aircraft on the surroundings of Tartous city,” and that there were no reports of casualties at the time.
“Civil defense and specialized teams are working to confirm the location of the targets,” SANA added.
The IDF later confirmed carrying out an airstrike in northwestern Syria, saying that the attack targeted a military facility belonging to the former Syrian regime in the town of Qardaha, east of Latakia, where weapons were being stored.
“Due to the latest developments in the area, it was decided to strike infrastructure at the site,” the army said, adding that it continues to monitor Syria for potential threats to Israel.
Qardaha, the hometown of deposed president Bashar Assad, is located in Latakia province, some 60 kilometers (40 miles) north of the city of Tartus.
غارات إسرائيـ ـلية تستهدف عدة مواقع بالقرب من محافظة طرطوس مع تحليق مستمر لطائرات الإحتلال الإسرائيـ ـلي pic.twitter.com/C58tzLXA3z
— الإعلامي محمد جمال (@ammamaiii) March 3, 2025
Last Tuesday, the IDF said it carried out airstrikes targeting military sites containing weapons in southern Syria.
At least two people were killed by a strike on one of the sites, the headquarters of a military unit southwest of Damascus.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month that southern Syria must be completely demilitarized, warning that his government would not accept the presence of the forces of the new Syrian Islamist-led government near its territory.
This handout picture released by the Syrian Presidency shows Syria’s interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) meeting with members of the committee to draft a constitutional declaration for the country’s transition after the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus on March 2, 2025. (Syrian Presidency / AFP)
Even before Assad’s fall, during Syria’s civil war, which broke out in 2011, Israel carried out hundreds of strikes in the neighboring country, mainly on government forces and Iranian-linked targets.
The same day Assad was ousted, Israel announced that its troops were entering a UN-patrolled buffer zone that separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the strategic Golan Heights.
The IDF described its presence in southern Syria’s buffer zone as a temporary and defensive measure, though Defense Minister Israel Katz has said that troops will remain deployed to nine army posts in the area “indefinitely.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz meets with troops of the Alpinist Unit atop the summit of Mount Hermon, Syria, on January 28, 2025. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)
Participants in Syria’s national dialogue conference last week affirmed their rejection of “provocative” statements by Netanyahu and urged the international community to pressure Israel to stop any “aggression and violations,” condemning “the Israeli incursion into Syrian territory.”
Israeli leaders have also publicly warned Syria’s government not to harm the Druze in southwestern Syria, and have regularly spoken with foreign leaders about the importance of protecting them, along with Syria’s Kurds.
Most recently, Israel over the weekend threatened action after unrest in a Damascus suburb, home to members of the Druze religious minority.
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