In latest wave of attacks, Israel strikes Damascus’s Barzeh neighbourhood and ‘military capabilities’ in Hama and Homs.

Israeli military aircraft have carried out attacks in Syria’s capital Damascus and in the central province of Hama, Israel’s army and local media have said, in the latest string of strikes on the war-torn country.

The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said the attacks on Wednesday targeted the vicinity of the scientific research centre in the Barzeh neighbourhood of the capital, as well as the airport in the Syrian city of Hama.

The Israeli military in a statement confirmed the attacks, saying it struck what it called “military capabilities” at the Syrian military bases in Hama city and Homs’ T4 military airport, along with alleged military infrastructure sites in Damascus.

Since the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria and deployed troops to a United Nations-patrolled buffer zone on the occupied Golan Heights.

Even while al-Assad was in power, Israel also routinely attacked Syria, bombing what it claimed were Iranian and Hezbollah targets.

In the days after al-Assad’s removal on December 8, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) – a United Kingdom-based war monitor – reported Israeli strikes targeting the research centre in Barzeh. Israel has claimed the centre was used to develop guided missiles and chemical weapons.

According to SOHR, Israel’s military carried out more than 500 air attacks on targets in Syria between December 8 and December 31, 2024, and has carried out at least 43 attacks so far this year.

Western countries including the United States had previously attacked the Ministry of Defence facility in 2018, saying it was related to Syria’s “chemical weapons infrastructure”.

Last month, Israel said it struck the T4 military base twice, targeting military capabilities at the site.

Last Thursday, Syrian state media said Israeli strikes targeted the coastal Latakia province, with SOHR saying munitions depots were hit.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said last month during a visit to Jerusalem that Israeli strikes on Syria were “unnecessary” and threatened to worsen the situation.

Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has accused Israel of waging a campaign against “the stability of the country”.

Source:

Al Jazeera and news agencies