Israel has carried out an aerial attack on western Syria, targeting military sites in the coastal cities of Latakia and Tartous. According to the Israeli military, the strike hit “weapon storage facilities containing coastal missiles that posed a threat to international and Israeli maritime freedom of navigation” and “components of surface-to-air missiles” in the Latakia area. The military stated it would “continue to operate to maintain freedom of action in the region, in order to carry out its missions and will act to remove any threat to the State of Israel and its citizens.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that jets likely to be Israeli struck military sites on the outskirts of Tartous and Latakia, resulting in one person killed and three others injured, according to Syrian state media. This attack follows Syria’s acknowledgement of indirect talks with Israel earlier this month to calm tensions.
The Israeli strike came a day after US envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack’s visit to Damascus, where he said the conflict between Israel and Syria is “solvable” and needed to start with “dialogue.” Barrack suggested, “I’d say we need to start with just a non-aggression agreement, talk about boundaries and borders.” The two countries have technically been at war since the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948.
The US president had recently lifted sanctions on Syria, and during a meeting with Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, urged al-Sharaa to normalize relations with Israel. Al-Sharaa has expressed support for returning to the terms of a 1974 ceasefire agreement that created a United Nations buffer zone in the Golan Heights.
The recent developments highlight the complexities of the longstanding conflict between Israel and Syria, with diplomatic efforts aiming to ease tensions amidst a backdrop of military actions and historical animosity. The world watches to see what Israel will do in view of its defiance to cease fire in the Gaza Strip.