Israeli strike hits Syria’s Latakia, state media reports

Two injured in rare strike on port city that is a stronghold of President al-Assad and located near a Russian airbase.

An Israeli strike on Syria’s Mediterranean port city of Latakia has injured at least two civilians and resulted in fires breaking out, Syrian state news agency SANA reported.

The attack took place at about 2:50am on Thursday (23:50 GMT on Wednesday) and hit the southeastern entrance to Latakia, the news agency said, citing a military statement.

Private property in the area was damaged, it added. SANA had earlier reported that antiaircraft defence intercepted “hostile targets” above Latakia.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a United Kingdom-based monitor, said the Israeli raid “targeted a weapons depot in Latakia city”.

Strikes are rare on the port city, a stronghold of President Bashar al-Assad located near a Russian airbase in Hmeimim.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident, as it rarely comments on individual strikes in Syria.

Israel has been carrying out attacks against Iran-linked targets in Syria for years but has ramped up such raids since last year’s October 7 attack led by Palestinian group Hamas. It has repeatedly said it will not allow Hezbollah ally Iran to expand its influence in Syria.

Israel has hit Syria with air raids and artillery attacks more than 220 times since last October, according to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), which aggregates conflict data.

The most significant attack was in April when Israeli fighter jets hit the Iranian consular building in Syria’s capital, Damascus, killing seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Lebanon’s Hezbollah has for years fought in support of al-Assad’s government in Damascus, and Israel has accused it of relying on land routes through Syria to transfer weapons and equipment from Iran into Lebanon.

Since the start of Syria’s civil war in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in the country, mainly against army positions and Iran-aligned fighters, including Hezbollah.

On October 10, Syrian state media reported an Israeli attack on the central provinces of Homs and Hama, targeting a car assembly factory and a military position.

Days earlier, an Israeli air attack in Damascus killed seven civilians, the government said.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies