Israel has amped up its attacks on Syria on Wednesday night, launching airstrikes in the Syrian capital Damascus and the province of Hama in Western-Central Syria.
Syrian media reported that the strikes targeted the vicinity of the scientific research center in the Barzeh neighborhood in Damascus, as well as the airport of Hama.
The escalations follow reports of Turkey’s efforts to seize control of the Tiyas air base (T-4) in Central Syria.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz issued a statement declaring that the Wednesday airstrikes were “a clear message and a warning for the future: we will not allow the security of the State of Israel to be harmed.”
Kats also warned that the IOF would remain in the Golan buffer zone within Syria to counter any perceived threats to Israel’s security, threatening Ahmed al-Sharra of a “heavy price” if Syria allowed “forces hostile to Israel” to enter Syrian territory.
At a press conference in Paris on April 3, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused Turkey of turning Syria into a proxy and rear base for what he ironically appeared to describe as a hegemonic regional policy. “It’s clear that is [Turkey’s] intention” is to turn Syria into a “protectorate,” he said unselfconsciously.
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) announced on Wednesday that it has struck “remaining military capabilities” at the Hama military airport and T-4 airbase, and “military infrastructure” in the Damascus area.
The IOF later claimed that they killed several gunmen after they were attacked in the Syrian town of Tasil while they were working to “confiscate weapons and destroy terror infrastructure.”
Local Syrian activist Ammar Jahmany told the New York Times that the people the IOF clashed with were actually civilians defending their town, among them were a tailor, a shopkeeper and construction workers.
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The latest attacks have killed at least 13 people, marking the deepest movement of Israeli ground forces into Syria since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December. The Syrian government condemned Israel’s impunity and lamented that the attacks were impeding Syrians’ attempts to rebuild their country after 14 years of civil war.
“These repeated attacks form part of a clear Israeli strategy to normalise violence once again within the country, undermining recovery efforts and entrenching a culture of impunity,” said Syria’s official statement.
Israel, which has been occupying the Syrian Golan Heights since 1967, has deployed troops to the United Nations-patrolled buffer zone and conducted hundreds of airstrikes in Syria since al-Assad’s overthrow.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that Israel has targeted the research center in Barzeh, North of Damascus, in the days following al-Assad’s ousting on December 8. Israel has maintained that the center was used to develop guided missiles and chemical weapons, despite possessing a vast arsenal of such weaponry itself.
According to SOHR, Israel carried out more than 500 air attacks in Syria between December 8 and December 31, 2024, as well as at least 43 attacks so far in 2025. Even during the Assad presidency, Israel frequently struck Syrian territory under the pretext of targeting Hezbollah.
