Israel Attacks Syrian Port of Latakia

Fires reported in shipping container yard

Israeli warplanes have carried out an attack against the port of Latakia in Syria  on Monday night, causing loud explosions in the area and starting fires in the shipping container yard.

Details are still emerging, though Syrian state media reported the fires have been extinguished and that there were no deaths in the strikes. Air defense systems were active and intercepted some of the missiles.

It is uncommon for Israel to attack Syrian targets in Syria, and they usually style themselves as targeting Iran, which is to say Shi’ite groups. Latakia isn’t often targeted.

This could be an issue in Israel-Russia relations, as in the past Russia has warned Israel away from the Syrian coast, where most of Russia’s operations are. It’s not clear if Russia was consulted before this attack, but if not that might be a serious provocation to them.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.