Israeli aircraft launched a series of airstrikes early Thursday morning, targeting a Hezbollah missile warehouse on the outskirts of Latakia, a coastal city under the control of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The attacks, part of an ongoing Israeli campaign against Iranian-linked military assets in Syria, caused explosions and fires in the area, according to local sources.
The Assad regime’s official news agency, SANA, reported that two civilians were injured during the raids, which also caused significant material damage to private properties near Latakia’s southeastern entrance. Regime state media claimed that air defense systems “confronted hostile targets” in the city’s airspace, though no further details were provided about the success of those efforts.
Local reports, corroborated by the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), indicated that the Israeli airstrikes specifically targeted an ammunition depot used by Hezbollah, a powerful militant group aligned with Iran. The depot, located near Jewish military barracks and a university in Latakia, stored missiles that exploded following the Israeli bombardment. Images and videos shared on social media showed large fires and explosions at the site.
This raid marks the second time Israeli forces have struck Latakia since the escalation of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, which began in October 2023. Israeli military operations have since intensified, not only in Gaza but also in Syria and Lebanon, as part of its air campaign to disrupt Iranian military influence in the region.
On October 3, Israeli forces conducted airstrikes on Latakia International Airport and the nearby Russian Hmeimim military base, hours after the arrival of an Iranian plane. That attack destroyed a weapons and ammunition depot, though no significant damage was reported to the runways or other critical infrastructure. Local sources reported that the October 3 raid targeted several military sites along the Syrian coast, again focusing on Iranian-linked assets without impacting Russian forces stationed at Hmeimim.
Israel has been conducting air raids against Iranian-aligned groups and weapons depots in Syria for several years, aiming to prevent the transfer of advanced weaponry to Hezbollah in Lebanon. However, the frequency and intensity of these strikes have increased since Israel expanded its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon.
As regional tensions continue to rise, these strikes underscore Israel’s ongoing efforts to prevent Iran from establishing a stronger military foothold in Syria and Lebanon, even as the war in Gaza dominates headlines. Meanwhile, the Assad regime attempts to minimize the perceived impact of these attacks, the escalating frequency of Israeli airstrikes reveals the ongoing vulnerability of Iranian assets on Syrian soil.
