Israel Targets Hezbollah's Arms In Syria Ahead Of Iran’s FM Visit

Locals gather at the site of a missile attack in al-Hamidiyah area near Syria’s western port Syrian city of Tartus on July 2, 2022
Locals gather at the site of a missile attack in al-Hamidiyah area near Syria’s western port Syrian city of Tartus on July 2, 2022

Two Syrian civilians were wounded in an alleged Israeli airstrike targeting sites reported to be Hezbollah's weapons depots near Syria’s port Syrian city of Tartus.

According to a Syrian military source quoted by SANA state media Saturday morning, several missiles hit positions in and around al-Hamidiyah area south of Tartus near the border with Lebanon, injuring a young man and a woman and causing material damage.

SANA said the missiles targeted “several poultry farms in the vicinity of Hamidiyah,” but the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the animal husbandries are believed to be used by Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah for military purposes.

Later on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian arrived in Damascus and met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in a visit reportedly aimed at facilitating peace and security between Syria and Turkey.

The strike occurred less than a month after an Israeli attack on Damascus airport targeting Tehran’s assets on the ground, a regular occurrence in recent years.

Israel has conducted hundreds of strikes mostly since 2017 against what it has described as Iranian targets in Syria, where Tehran-backed forces have deployed over the last decade to support Assad in Syria's war.

Tartus, along with the Khmeimim air base in the nearby province of Latakia, are the main Russian bases in the country, which are reportedly being taken over by Iran forces and Hezbollah as Russia has begun pulling out its troops from Syria to bolster forces in Ukraine.