According to the reports on Monday (16 December), Israel launched a major airstrike on a city in northwestern Syria, causing an explosion so powerful it registered as a 3.0 magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale. The bombing targeted missile depots near the city of Tartus, which is located along Syria’s western coastline. This strike has been confirmed by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), highlighting the scale of the blast.
The Israeli military has stated that its strikes on Syria are part of an ongoing effort to prevent military equipment from falling into the hands of terrorist groups. Israel claims that its actions are crucial in weakening the military infrastructure of the Syrian regime, especially in light of the instability that has followed the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s government. The regime’s weakening grip on control has raised concerns about the proliferation of weapons to hostile forces.
The Israeli operations target various military assets in Syria, with a specific focus on limiting the influence of jihadist groups. Many of the rebel factions that have gained ground in Syria are known to have ties to or membership with extremist organizations like al-Qaeda and ISIS. This has led Israel to take preemptive measures to neutralize threats in the region, ensuring that the weapons and military supplies do not fall into the wrong hands.
Among the rebel leaders in Syria is Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, a former al-Qaeda member who played a significant role in the formation of al-Nusra Front, a covert ISIS affiliate. Al-Jolani’s connections to ISIS further underscore the concerns of groups like Israel, which view the spread of militant influence as a major threat to regional stability. Israel’s military strikes are seen as part of an ongoing strategy to contain the rise of jihadist forces in the region.
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