Israeli missiles hit Syria’s coastal cities of Tartous and Latakia on Friday, killing a single civilian, said Syria’s state news agency. The attacks follow a sustained diplomatic push by Israel and Syria’s provisional government to reduce tensions between the two sides.
The Israeli military later confirmed the attack, reporting it as having hit weapons storage sites in Latakia. The Israeli Defense Forces reported the targeted areas had missiles threatening Israeli and international maritime navigation.
“These facilities stored precision-guided munitions that could threaten freedom of navigation in the Mediterranean,” the military said in a statement.
Israel has carried out routine bombings in Syria for years, targeting the weakening of military facilities related to Iran and allied forces. The bombings have increased since the beginning of the Gaza war, though they had slowed down recently as Israel and Syria moved into initial talks to lower tensions.
Friday’s attack is an important escalation, potentially jeopardizing the tenuous diplomatic progress of recent weeks. The Syrian regime has yet to say if the incident would affect current negotiations, but experts caution that additional strikes might scuttle talks.
No information was given regarding the identity of the civilian victim. Damage assessments are still under way.
