Emergency service personnel and residents gather at the site of an Israeli strike in Syria’s capital Damascus on October 2, 2024. An Israeli air strike killed three people in Damascus on October 2 (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Reports are emerging of a significant explosion and subsequent blaze near an airport and airbase in Syria this evening. The Syrian news outlet Syriawatan News alleges that an ammunition storage facility has been struck.
The incident is said to have occurred in the vicinity of Khmeimim Air Base and Bassel al-Assad airport in Jableh, Syria. There are accounts claiming that a Russian plane was involved in an attempt to intercept projectiles over Jableh.
It is claimed that air defences intercepted projectiles off the coast of Jableh, a city on the north west coast of Syria. As many as 30 missiles are claimed to have been fired.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Russian and Syrian air defences intercepted projectiles for at least 40 minutes in Latakia, according to Sky News Arabia. A separate local report suggests an Iranian plane at the aiport may also have been a target.
This development follows just hours after Syria’s official SANA news agency reported that an Israeli airstrike targeted a residential building in Damascus last night, resulting in three fatalities and injuring at least three others. An Associated Press reporter on the ground observed that the missile seemed to have hit the ground floor of a four-story block of flats.
Israel, which often conducts operations against Iranian-affiliated targets in Syria without officially acknowledging them, has not commented on the incident.
Another Syrian media source, @syr_television, tweeted: “Syrian TV sources: The Israeli bombing began at 3:55 and ended at 4:41, with thirty missiles from naval battleships.” They also claimed: “Sources to Syria TV: Israel bombed the Hmeimim base an hour after the arrival of an Iranian plane belonging to the Qashim Fars company.”
Israel has reportedly launched fresh airstrikes in Syria tonight, plunging the Middle East into further crisis and sparking fears of all-out war. A fresh blitz was said to be underway in the port city of Tartus, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
It followed airstrikes in Gaza and Lebanon just hours after the international community called for calm in the region.
Joe Biden had said earlier: “We’ve been determined to prevent a wider war that engulfs the entire region. A diplomatic solution is still possible. In fact, it remains the only path to lasting security.”
People gather at the site of a reported Israeli strike in Damascus on October 2 (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
But reports said the situation had deteriorated even further, with Syrian air defences intercepting eight targets off the coastal city of Tartus earlier today.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors violence, said multiple explosions were heard over the city.
It’s not the first time Syria has been struck this month. On September 9, Israel launched deadly attacks on several military sites, killing at least 16 people.
The Syrian state news agency Sana cited a hospital director saying dozens were wounded in the vicinity of Masyaf in the Hama province.
Displaced Syrians and Lebanese transport their belongings atop a van as they enter Syria (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Israel’s widening of its military action is seen as a response to cross-border attacks on its northern territories by Hezbollah and other groups in Lebanon and Syria.
The death toll from Israeli strikes in Lebanon this week has climbed to 558, including 50 children and 94 women, health chiefs there said.
Syrian photographer Ammar Alzeer tweeted: Violent explosions are still occurring in the Syrian جبلة area. Reports of targeting an ammunition depot near Hmeimim Airport.”
Thousands of Syrians and Lebanese continue to pour into Syria to escape Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon. On Wednesday, reporters saw hundreds crowding the Jousieh border crossing, one of several points of entry into Syria. The crossing is around 18 miles from Syria’s central city of Homs, where many said they were headed.
Most of those waiting to enter Syria were from eastern Lebanon’s city of Baalbek and surrounding areas, which have been hard hit by Israeli airstrikes in recent days. The militant group Hezbollah has a strong presence in that region, but many of those killed and wounded have been civilians. Some came from as far as the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Ola Hallaq, her husband and two kids were among those waiting to be processed. Originally from Homs, she fled Syria at the start of the civil war in 2011 and settled in Baalbek. Now, as Israel pounds eastern Lebanon, the family is returning home despite the uncertainty and lack of income.
“I’m returning to my country because of the war – there was so much destruction all around,” she said.
Dabbah Mashaal, an official at the crossing, said 10,000 displaced Syrians and 7,700 Lebanese have crossed the border in recent days.