“We strongly condemn such irresponsible actions that violate Syria’s sovereignty and the basic rules of international law and demand their unconditional cessation,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. The relatively rare daytime strike on Saturday targeted an area near the Syrian town of al-Hamidiyah, south of Tartus, home to Russia’s main naval base in the region. Two civilians were injured and urban infrastructure was severely damaged, Moscow said. Syria has also blamed Israel, although the IDF has yet to respond, in line with its policy of generally remaining silent on specific actions in Syria. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets in Syria over the years, but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations. Get The Times of Israel Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories By signing up, you agree to the terms Israel has previously said it is targeting bases of Iran-allied militias, such as the Lebanese Hezbollah group that has deployed fighters to Syria, as well as arms shipments believed to be destined for various proxies in the region. At approximately 06:30 Saturday morning, the Israeli AF fired several missiles from over the Mediterranean Sea, hitting poultry on the outskirts of al-Hamidiyah south of #Tartus.?? As a result 2 civilians, including a woman, were injured and material losses were reported. #Video pic.twitter.com/ZbzcQwWBs5 — Idlib Calling (@IdlibCalling) July 2, 2022 The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based opposition group with unclear funding, said Saturday’s strike targeted weapons en route to the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon. The claim was not confirmed by other organizations. Citing a military source, Syria’s state news agency SANA said the missiles were fired Saturday by Israeli warplanes over the Mediterranean Sea, west of the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, at the Syrian town of al-Hamidiyah, south of Tartus. While most alleged Israeli attacks in Syria are usually carried out under the cover of darkness, Saturday’s alleged strike was carried out at about 6:30 a.m., during daylight hours. According to SANA, “poultry farms” were targeted in the airstrike and two civilians were injured. Their conditions were not immediately clear. Damage was also caused at the scene. Syria often claims that the targets of Israeli strikes are not military. Video broadcast by SANA showed rubble at what it said was the site of the targeted facility. Israeli warplanes launched a multi-missile airstrike from over the Mediterranean, west of Tripoli, targeting the area of the town of Hamidiyah, south of Tartus pic.twitter.com/11lEuOjeRV — Abu Amin Observatory 80 (@Najdat567) July 2, 2022 Israeli strikes have continued in Syrian airspace, which is largely controlled by Russia, even as ties with Moscow have soured in recent months. Israel has found itself at odds with Russia as it increasingly backs Ukraine while seeking to maintain freedom of movement in Syrian skies. The last strike in Syria attributed to Israel was on June 10, when Damascus International Airport came under a major attack and was forced to close for two weeks, following Israeli accusations that Iran had smuggled weapons to Lebanon’s Hezbollah terrorist group . through civilian flights in Syria. Then, too, Russia issued a harsh condemnation, demanding an end to such attacks that violate Syria’s sovereignty. Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report. It’s not (only) for you. Supporting The Times of Israel is not a transaction for an online service, such as subscribing to Netflix. The ToI community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions around the world, for free. Of course, we’ll remove all ads from your page and you’ll get access to some awesome Community-only content. But your support gives you something deeper than that: the pride of participating in something that really matters. Join the Times of Israel Community Join our Community Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this You are a devoted reader We are really glad that you read X Times of Israel articles last month. That’s why we started the Times of Israel ten years ago – to provide discerning readers like you with the must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world. So now we have a request. Unlike other media, we have not set up a paywall. But because the journalism we do is expensive, we invite readers to whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community. For just $6 a month you can support our quality journalism by enjoying Times of Israel ADS-FREE, as well as access to exclusive content available only to members of the Times of Israel Community. Thank you, David Horovitz, founding editor of the Times of Israel Join our community Join our community Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
