Politics Activists report new Israeli airstrike in Syria
According to human rights activists, Israel's air force has once again attacked targets in Syria.
03.01.2025, 04:41
SDA
Fighter jets attacked military "defense factories" of the ousted Syrian government south of Aleppo during the night, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. There was initially no information on possible casualties. The Israeli military initially remained silent. According to the UK-based monitoring center, huge explosions were heard.
Following the fall of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad on 8 December, Israel massively expanded its attacks in the neighboring country. Since then, the Israeli air force has flown around 500 attacks in the country, according to the human rights activists. Israel's army had declared that it had destroyed up to 80 percent of the military capacity in Syria.
Israel: Iranian missile factory in Syria destroyed
Israel had already attacked infrastructure in Syria several times in the past. Four months ago, for example, the army destroyed an underground Iranian-financed missile factory in Masjaf in western Syria. According to a military spokesperson, the factory was intended to produce hundreds of precision missiles for Hezbollah in Lebanon and other pro-Iranian militias every year. More than 100 special forces flown in by helicopter were involved in the operation around 500 kilometers north of the border with Israel.
According to the spokesman, the factory had been put into operation shortly before the attack on September 8. He called it a "strategic threat to the state of Israel" and a "flagship project of Iran". Syria's ousted ruler Assad had been allied with Israel's arch-enemy Iran.
According to Israel's military, it has now also bombed rocket launchers of the Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon - despite the ceasefire that has been in place since the end of November. In accordance with the ceasefire agreements, the Lebanese army was initially asked to take action against the Hezbollah rocket installations. Only when this did not happen were the installations attacked, the army explained. This could not initially be independently verified. There was no information about possible casualties.
New attempt for ceasefire in Gaza
Meanwhile, according to his office, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized a delegation to travel to Qatar today to continue negotiations on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of Israeli hostages. Together with Egypt and the USA, Qatar is mediating between Israel and Hamas, who reject direct negotiations with each other.
Hamas also wanted to send negotiators. A senior representative of the Islamist organization told the Qatari newspaper "Al-Arabi Al-Jadid": "The chances are good that the negotiations will be successful this time." Mussa Abu Marsuk did not say what his optimism was based on.
Shortly beforehand, there had been reports that the negotiations were stuck. The Times of Israel quoted an Israeli official on Wednesday as saying that there were no plans to send a delegation to Qatar or Egypt. It was unclear what had changed that a delegation was now traveling to Qatar after all, it said the following day.
There have often been hopes of a breakthrough in the tough negotiations, and they have been disappointed every time. A compromise is extremely difficult because Israel and Hamas want to destroy each other.
Warring parties insist on demands
Israel is demanding a list of the names of the hostages held in the Gaza Strip who are still alive. According to media reports, Hamas has stated that it needs a pause in the fighting in order to find out the whereabouts and state of health of the hostages. Israel considers this to be a pretextual claim. Around 100 hostages are still believed to be in Gaza, many of whom are probably no longer alive. Hamas is reportedly demanding that Israel commit to an end to the war, which Netanyahu's government rejects.
The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023, which left 1,200 people dead. According to Palestinian figures, more than 45,500 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war. The figure, which cannot be independently verified, does not distinguish between civilians and fighters.
According to Palestinian reports, at least 46 people were killed in renewed Israeli attacks. The Israeli army announced that it had attacked a Hamas command center in Chan Junis in the south of the sealed-off coastal strip. This information could not be verified either.
The attacks in Gaza continue
The Hamas headquarters is said to be located in an area designated as a humanitarian zone. Before the attack, measures were taken to protect civilians, the army announced. Six Palestinians were killed in the bombardment in Chan Junis, said staff at a clinic in the city. According to the Hamas-controlled civil defense in the north, another 40 people were killed in the city of Gaza and its surroundings. Israel's army did not comment on the attacks there when asked. The information provided by both sides could not initially be independently verified.
