Israeli airstrikes targeted the coastal region in western Syria, according to Syrian television. Israel confirmed that it bombed military facilities in Latakia. This comes despite Damascus announcing indirect negotiations with Israel, while sources revealed direct negotiations.
Syrian state television reported on Friday that an Israeli airstrike targeted "positions near the village of Zama in the Jableh countryside, south of Latakia."
The official Syrian news agency SANA reported that "a civilian was killed as a result of Israeli occupation aircraft targeting the vicinity of the village of Zama in the Jableh countryside."
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that these raids targeted "military sites" and barracks in the Tartus and Latakia regions, without reporting any casualties.
Israel confirmed the raid and said it targeted "weapons storage facilities containing surface-to-sea missiles that pose a threat to international and Israeli freedom of navigation, in the Latakia region of Syria."
These are the first airstrikes on the country in about a month, and come after Syria announced this month indirect negotiations with the Jewish state to contain the situation. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa confirmed in Paris this month that Damascus is conducting "indirect negotiations" with Israel through mediators to calm the situation.
Last Tuesday, a Reuters report, citing five informed sources, revealed that Israel and Syria are in direct contact and have held face-to-face meetings in recent weeks to defuse tensions and prevent a conflict in the border area between the two sides.
On Thursday, US envoy to Syria Thomas Barak called from Damascus for dialogue between Syria and Israel, the two countries currently in a state of war, beginning with a "non-aggression pact" between the two sides. In a statement broadcast on the Saudi Al Arabiya channel, Barak expressed his belief that "the problem between Israel and Syria is solvable and begins with dialogue."
Since the overthrow of former regime leader Bashar al-Assad on December 8, 2024, Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on military sites in Syria, justifying this by preventing the military arsenal from falling into the hands of the new authorities. One of its strikes this month targeted the vicinity of the presidential palace in Damascus, against the backdrop of sectarian violence.
Its forces have also advanced into the demilitarized buffer zone in the Golan Heights, located on the outskirts of the Israeli-occupied part of the Syrian Golan Heights. Its forces occasionally advance into areas deep in southern Syria.
Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has repeatedly emphasized that Syria does not seek escalation with its neighbors and has called on the international community to pressure Israel to halt its offensive. Its attacks.
DW
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