Israel has launched new airstrikes on Syria’s coast and conducted ground raids in the southern region as part of a series of attacks aimed at enhancing its security and escalating tensions with Syria’s new government. The strikes seem to be an effort to prevent the Assad regime from providing weapons to groups that might be hostile to Israel. The Israeli military targeted a weapons storage facility in Qardaha, former President Bashar al-Assad’s hometown, which is close to a major Russian air base outside the coastal city of Latakia. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Hours after, the Israeli military carried out ground raids in two towns in southern Syria, cutting off roads, searching military barracks, and destroying warehouses before withdrawing. A week ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had demanded the “complete demilitarization” of significant parts of southern Syria from the forces of the new regime. Since the Assad regime was overthrown in December by a rapid rebel attack, Israel has conducted hundreds of airstrikes in Syria aimed at preventing weapons from falling into what it considers potentially hostile hands. Israel has also deployed forces into a United Nations-monitored demilitarized zone near its border with Syria and temporarily invaded border villages in southern Syria for security reasons.

Syria’s new government has accused Israel of violating its sovereignty. The attacks have been criticized globally, with the United Nations stating that Syria’s “territorial integrity, and unity must be fully restored.” After violence erupted between Syrian government officers and armed men on the outskirts of Damascus last week, Netanyahu ordered the military to protect the country’s Druse minority from Syria’s new rulers, a move that was rejected by Syrian Druse and government leaders.

Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Shara, has consistently stated that Syria is not seeking conflict with Israel. At a two-day “national dialogue” conference in Damascus last week, aimed at establishing an inclusive Syrian government, the closing statement rejected Israel’s threat of not allowing the presence of Syrian armed forces in the country’s south. However, the response of Syria’s leadership to the Israeli demand remains unclear.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/world/middleeast/israel-syria-strikes.html