Israel carried out overnight raids on Syrian air defence systems and ammunition stations in its continuing bid to sabotage the country’s military power following the recent ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. Israel hit military sites in Syria’s coastal Tartous area, including air defence divisions and surface-to-surface missile stations, stating the attack presented the most serious strikes in the region in more than a decade.

The overnight attacks in Tartous and Damascus observed the latest stage of an enduring Israeli campaign that has witnessed the military hit the country with nearly 600 strikes in the eight days since the collapse of al-Assad. Israel is following a strategy of decreasing this country’s air defence power and also its air forces. Similarly, Israeli troops have penetrated a United Nations-patrolled buffer area that divided Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights, disregarding a 1974 armistice deal.

Ahmed al-Sharaa, the de facto leader of Syria’s new government, has expressed the country is in no place to enter any contest “because there is general exhaustion in Syria”. Individually, Syria’s Kurds, who operate a semiautonomous government in the northeast, urged for a cessation of military procedures over the entire Syrian region to start a constructive, broad national dialogue. 

Amid aggression from Israel, the new government has been making strides with international recognition, indicating the commencement of embassies by Türkiye and Qatar and recent communication with US and UK officeholders. European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she had ordered the bloc’s envoy to Syria to go to Damascus and make a connection with the country’s new administration.

Western countries are sceptical of the new administration in Damascus, given that al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group was once linked with al-Qaeda. The European Union cut relations with the al-Assad government in Damascus during the country’s civil war but remained a critical donor of humanitarian assistance to help local populations. 

Geir Pedersen, the UN’s Syria representative said he desired for a swift stop to the sanctions to help promote economic recovery. A Qatari delegation also anchored in Syria to encounter transitional government officers and promised full dedication to supporting the Syrian people. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared his country was corresponding for providing support including flour, wheat and oil to Syria.