Israel continues striking Syria despite condemnations

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Israeli military on Thursday launched fresh airstrikes on Syria despite international condemnations, targeting the western coastal city of Latakia where injuries are currently unknown, state media reported. 

“Israeli occupation planes launched several airstrikes in the vicinity of the port and the city of Latakia a short while ago,” Syria’s state-run SANA news agency said, citing its correspondent. 

A deadly Israeli airstrike on the southern province of Daraa on Tuesday drew international condemnation from regional and global powers such as Germany, Jordan, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said it was targeting “several terrorists who opened fire toward them” while Damascus said six were killed. 

SANA added that authorities are “working to ensure that there are no injuries in the targeted place.” 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, reported that Israel “fired at least six missiles” on ammunition depots in Latakia. 

“The raid caused extensive material damage and destroyed the ammunition depot. The explosions continued for tens of minutes, and no reports of casualties have been reported so far,” the Observatory said. 

On Tuesday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) also said they launched airstrikes on two military bases in Syria’s central Homs province to destroy "military capabilities" in the area.

Geir Pedersen, the UN special envoy for Syria, expressed concern in the Security Council on Tuesday about “Israeli statements on its intention to stay in Syria” and its demands for southern Syria to be demilitarized. 

Since Assad’s ouster in early December, Israel has scrambled to destroy Damascus’s military stockpiles. It also sent troops across the border into a buffer zone east of the annexed Golan Heights, justifying the move as a precaution amid the political instability in Syria.

Throughout the Syrian civil war, Israel carried out hundreds of strikes, often justifying them as targeting pro-Iran armed groups, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which supported Assad at the time.