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Suspected Israeli strikes targeted a key base on the Syrian coast late on July 30, just a day ahead of a high-level meeting between officials from the two countries in Azerbaijan.
Video footage posted online showed a large fire at the 107th Brigade base after the strikes. The base, which is located near the city of Jableh in the southern Latakia countryside, houses depots of the former Syrian Navy with anti-ship missiles and other advanced equipment.
This was the third time strikes have targeted the base since the start of the month, with both previous attacks also blamed on Israel.
Notably, a Syrian-Israeli ministerial meeting is set to take place on July 31 in Baku, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer in attendance, according to AFP.
A diplomat who spoke to the news agency said that the meeting will focus on “the security situation, particularly in southern Syria.”
The strike on the 107th Brigade was very likely meant as a warning message from Israel to Syria. Tensions between the two sides have been mounting since Israel intervened to stop an attack by the Syrian Islamist-led government on Druze in al-Suwayda in southern Syria earlier in the month. The battle claimed more than 1,400 people, including hundreds of Druze civilians who were executed by government forces.
What is very interesting is that the naval base was first targeted this month on July 12, just a day before the battle broke out in al-Suwayda, while the second strike came right after the United States brokered a ceasefire in the governorate on July 17.
Shaibani, who arrived in Russia on July 31 before heading to Azerbaijan, said that Israel was exploiting the “minorities card” to justify interference in Syria’s internal affairs.
Speaking at a news conference after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, Asaad al-Shaibani asserted that the country’s Druze community is being manipulated to fracture Syrian society, reinforcing the claim that Damascus cannot protect all of its citizens.
“Israel systematically targets populated areas in the Suwayda province to incite civil unrest, potentially even reigniting civil war. It is critical that no party – especially Israel – exploits the ‘minorities card’ to justify interference in Syria’s internal affairs,” he stressed.
He also underscored Syria’s lack of aggressive intent toward Israel, noting the government’s focus on postwar reconstruction and public exhaustion after over a decade of civil war.
“The Syrian government is responsible for all its people, not select minorities. We will not allow this narrative to be weaponized again,” he said.
Shaibani also emphasized that Moscow had “unequivocally confirmed the absolute sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic” during transparent discussions with Lavrov.
“Syria’s path to stability and recovery is impossible without halting Israel’s attacks, witnessed globally. These strikes violate international law and humanitarian norms, while sabotaging our nation’s reconstruction and stabilization,” he said.
In addition, the minister welcomed Russia’s firm rejection of Israeli military actions, noting their talks had addressed Moscow’s role in Syria’s economic revival.
From his side, Lavrov stressed that “Russia has consistently opposed the exploitation of Syrian territory for geopolitical rivalries or as a battleground for other states’ disputes.”
“The recent sharp escalation in [southern Syria’s] al-Suwayda governorate, as well as earlier events on the Syrian coast, underscore the persistent challenges facing Syria’s leadership and society at this stage,” Lavrov noted, warning: “All members of the international community must avoid actions that risk further escalation.”
Israel justifies its intervention in southern Syria by its historic ties to its own Druze community. When the Syrian government launched a similar attack on the coast and killed more than 1,600 Alawite civilians, Israel condemned the violence but did not intervene.
Earlier in the week, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss various developments in the Middle East, including recent sectarian violence in Syria.
The recent violence in al-Suwayda and the strikes on the coast suggest that Israel is indeed using sectarianism to fracture the country, possibly warning Damascus that it could do on the coast what it did in the south. Still, the Syrian government is the one allowing Israel to do this by refusing to adopt real inclusive policies, especially when it comes to Druze and Alawites. Only real reforms could stop Israel from intervening.
Russia could help Syria resolve sectarian tensions in the south, where its forces kept the front with Israel quiet for years before the fall of the Assad regime, as well as on the coast, where it maintains two bases.
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