In a First, Israel Strikes Syrian, Hezbollah Positions in Idlib

An explosion following the Israeli strikes on Syria. (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)
An explosion following the Israeli strikes on Syria. (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)
TT

In a First, Israel Strikes Syrian, Hezbollah Positions in Idlib

An explosion following the Israeli strikes on Syria. (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)
An explosion following the Israeli strikes on Syria. (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)

Israeli jets carried out on Saturday strikes against joint positions held by Syrian forces and Hezbollah in the Saraqeb region in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province.

This is the first time that Israel targets regions held by the regime and opposition factions.

Israel also struck a scientific research center in the vicinity of the city of Al-Safira near Aleppo.

The Syrian Defense Ministry confirmed the strikes that took place overnight on Friday.

It said the attacks left several military personnel wounded and caused material damage.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Israeli jets flew over the international coalition base in the al-Tanf region on the Syrian-Jordanian-Iraqi border after flying over Syria’s Sweida and Daraa regions.

Syrian government radars detected the jets without intercepting them, added the rights monitor.

Local media sources said the strikes on Saraqeb targeted positions held by Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Seven people were killed and 15 injured in the attack.

The attack took place hours after a meeting between Turkish and Russian officials at a position held by Russian forces in the village of al-Tronba near Saraqeb.

Israel has been carrying out strikes against Iran-linked targets in Syria for years but has ramped up such raids since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by armed group Hamas on Israeli territory.



Russia Denies its Hmeimim Base in Syria Is Being Used to Supply Hezbollah with Weapons from Iran

A Russian Sukhoi Su-35 bomber lands at the Russian Hmeimim military base in Latakia province, northwest Syria, on May 4, 2016. (AFP via Getty Images)
A Russian Sukhoi Su-35 bomber lands at the Russian Hmeimim military base in Latakia province, northwest Syria, on May 4, 2016. (AFP via Getty Images)
TT

Russia Denies its Hmeimim Base in Syria Is Being Used to Supply Hezbollah with Weapons from Iran

A Russian Sukhoi Su-35 bomber lands at the Russian Hmeimim military base in Latakia province, northwest Syria, on May 4, 2016. (AFP via Getty Images)
A Russian Sukhoi Su-35 bomber lands at the Russian Hmeimim military base in Latakia province, northwest Syria, on May 4, 2016. (AFP via Getty Images)

Russia has asked Israel to avoid launching aerial strikes as part of its war against Lebanon’s Hezbollah near one of Moscow’s bases in Syria, a top official said Wednesday.

Syrian state media in mid-October claimed that Israel had struck the port city of Latakia, a stronghold of President Bashar Assad, who is supported by Russia and in turn backs Hezbollah.

Latakia, and in particular its airport, is close to the town of Hmeimim that hosts a Russian air base.

“Israel actually carried out an air strike in the immediate vicinity of Hmeimim,” Alexander Lavrentiev, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy in the Near East, told the RIA Novosti press agency.

“Our military has of course notified Israeli authorities that such acts that put Russian military lives in danger over there are unacceptable,” he added.

“That is why we hope that this incident in October will not be repeated.”

Israel has carried out intensive bombing of Syria but rarely targets Latakia, to the northwest of Damascus.

Israel accuses Hezbollah of transporting weapons through Syria.

The two warring parties have been in open conflict since September after Israel’s year-long Gaza war with Hamas — a Hezbollah ally — escalated to a new front.

Lavrentiev said that Russia’s air base was not being used to supply Hezbollah with weapons.

Israel stepped up strikes on Syria at the same time as targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Since civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes on Syrian government forces and groups supported by its arch-foe Iran, notably Hezbollah fighters that have been deployed to assist Assad’s regime.

Israel rarely comments on its strikes but has said it will not allow Iran to extend its presence to Syria.