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Israel has renewed its strikes on the Syrian coast amid rumors of a near uprising against the Islamist government appointed by the terrorist-designated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham after the fall of the Assad regime.
The Syrian coast, where the Russian military maintains a naval base in the port of Tartus and an air base in Khmeimim near the town of Jableh, is the heartland of the Alawites, Syria’s largest minority. Fromer president Bashar al-Assad was a member of the religious group.
Since the fall of the regime, the new government has been accused of persecuting the Alawites with crimes and violations being reported daily by local monitors.
Late on March 3, two waves of strikes hit the area of Qardaha in the countryside of Lattakia and the outskirts of the city of Tartus.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) claimed responsibility for the strikes that the targeted Qardaha, revealing in a statement that the target was a military facility belonging to the former Syrian regime where weapons were being stored.
“Due to the latest developments in the area, it was decided to strike infrastructure at the site,” the military said, adding that it continues to monitor Syria for potential threats to Israel.
Last week, a series of protests broke out in Qardaha, the hometown of Assad, after security forces attempted to occupy a house in the city. At least three locals were killed near the town. Syrian authorities claimed that they were armed.
The strikes on Tartus outskirts hit an air defense base located close to the port. The IDF didn’t claim responsibility. However, locals living nearby reported receiving warning messages on their mobile phones from the military ahead of the strikes.
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“To our people on the coast, move away from the gatherings of the saboteurs IDF,” reads one of the messages.
Another message said: “what happened was the beginning … we will inform you of the safe areas in the coming days IDF.”
The language in both messages, including the use of the term “saboteurs,” is in line with the wording officially used by the IDF’s spokesmen unit.
While the strikes in Qardaha and Tartus caused no casualties, they did lead to rumors of a near Israeli operation on the Syrian coast.
Talks of an uprising on the coast by the Alawites against the Islamist government have been ongoing for a few weeks. Many members of the group were serving in the now dissolved Syrian Arab Army and affiliated security forces. Now, they find themselves chased by the government. Many other Alawites were also expelled from civilian jobs which left them without an income.
In addition to the rumors, a series of hit-and-run attacks targeted checkpoints across the coast, with some causing casualties.
The Syrian government have been taking the recent events very seriously. Reinforcements were deployed on the coast in recent days. Moreover, on March 2 key entrances to Tartus were completely blocked restricting the movement from and to the city. This led to tensions with the locals.
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It’s worth noting that Israel last week vowed to defend the Druze minority in southern Syria and was close to launch a military operation against Syrian government forces after deadly clashes in a Druze-majority district in southern Damascus. In addition, Israel has repeated voiced its support of Kurdish forces controlling northeastern Syria.
The situation on the Syrian coast is another example of how the radical policies of Syria’s new Islamist government are driving the country towards division, all while offering the chance to Israel to expand its influence.
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