An Israeli airstrike on the Syrian port city of Latakia has left at least two civilians injured, according to reports from Syrian state news agency SANA. The attack occurred in the early hours of Thursday and resulted in fires breaking out at the southeastern entrance to Latakia. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the strike targeted a weapons depot in the city, which is a stronghold of President Bashar al-Assad and is located near a Russian airbase in Hmeimim.
Israel has been carrying out attacks against Iran-linked targets in Syria for years, with an increase in such raids since a Hamas attack last year. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident, consistent with its usual practice of not addressing individual strikes in Syria. Israel has made it clear that it will not allow Iran’s ally Hezbollah to expand its influence in Syria and has conducted over 220 attacks in the country since last October.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah has been supporting the Assad government in Syria, and Israel has accused the group of using land routes through Syria to transfer weapons from Iran to Lebanon. Since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Israel has carried out numerous strikes in the country, primarily targeting Syrian army positions and Iran-aligned fighters, including Hezbollah. Recent attacks in Homs and Hama targeted a car assembly factory and a military position, while an airstrike in Damascus killed seven civilians.
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