Israel has conducted a series of airstrikes in the surrounding areas of the Syrian capital, Damascus, amid escalating regional tension due to the Israel-Hamas war.
According to reports, an unnamed military source revealed that the attack was launched around 11:55 p.m. on Dec. 28 from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting specific points in the southern region. Syrian air defenses swiftly responded, successfully intercepting most of the rockets fired during the attack.
The attack happened just one day after the reopening of the Damascus International Airport, which had been repeatedly targeted in previous Israeli airstrikes.
On Dec. 25, Israel bombed the surroundings of the Sayyida Zeinab area, resulting in the death of Brigadier General Razi Mousavi, a high-ranking commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force. According to Iranian media, Mousavi faced multiple assassination attempts by Israel throughout the Syrian civil war.
The IRGC condemned the attack and labeled it a “criminal missile attack by the fake and child-killing Zionist regime.” It warned that Tel Aviv would undoubtedly “pay the price for this crime.”
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi also condemned the killing of the IRGC general, interpreting it as a manifestation of the “frustration, helplessness and incapacity” of Israel.
Israeli fighter jets cripple Damascus and Aleppo airports
Israeli airstrikes in Syria have intensified since the commencement of the Israel-Hamas war. (Related: Israel’s “holy war” against Gaza already expanding to include Syria, Yemen.)
For instance, on October 12, Israeli fighter jets targeted and bombed both the Damascus and Aleppo international airports in Syria. These incidents have rendered the vital civilian airfields inoperable, causing significant damage to the landing strips and effectively shutting down the two major airports. The attack severely impacted their capability to receive humanitarian aid after a devastating earthquake in 2023.
Moreover, Israel has been engaged in skirmishes with Palestinian resistance fighters in southern Lebanon, coinciding with the initiation of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood by resistance groups in Gaza.
The Israeli assault on Syrian airports occurred just ahead of the scheduled visit to Damascus by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. The Israeli strikes are seen as a significant provocation amid the already tense regional situation.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi, reaffirmed their unwavering support for Palestine during a recent phone conversation. Al-Assad condemned the “Zionist policies causing bloodshed” and called for swift action at the Arab and Islamic levels to protect the Palestinian people, particularly in Gaza, and to halt Israeli raids.
The attacks by Israel on Syria’s international airports in Damascus and Aleppo have forced the shutdown of operations on multiple occasions.
