DAMASCUS: Israel launched airstrikes on military air bases and infrastructure sites in the Syrian cities of Damascus, Hama and Homs on Wednesday, the Israeli military said.
Israel spent years carrying out airstrikes on Syria during former President Bashar Assad’s rule, targeting Iran-linked military installations and weapons transfers from Tehran intended for the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, which was deployed in Syrian territory.
That arms route was cut when Assad was toppled but Israel has continued to carry out strikes on Syrian military bases.
The strikes targeted the military airport in the Syrian city of Hama, and the vicinity of the scientific research center in the Barzeh neighborhood in Damascus, Syrian state media and local officials said.
Israel bombed facilities of the scientific research center shortly after Assad was ousted by Islamist rebels on Dec. 8, claiming that the center was used to develop guided missiles and chemical weapons.
Israel also said on Wednesday it targeted the T4 air base, in Homs province, a place which was repeatedly hit by Israel over the past week.
Casualties were also reported following the airstrikes on Hama, security sources told Reuters on Wednesday, but no official death toll was reported on the Syrian state media.
“Israel has completely destroyed Hama air base to ensure it is not used. This is a systematic bombing to destroy the military capabilities of the country’s main air bases,” a Syrian military source told Reuters, adding around a dozen strikes demolished the runways, tower, arms depots and hangars.
Hama air base, located west of the city, is one of the country’s main air bases that was used extensively during the 13-year old conflict between Assad and rebels before they ousted him, as a main launching pad for bombing former opposition-held areas in the north.
Israel and Syria have been witnessing an increase in violence along the border, marking an increased friction between the two after a new Islamist-led leadership was installed following Assad’s ouster from power.
Israel has since said it will not tolerate an Islamist militant presence in southern Syria and sent its own troops into Syria’s border zone. Syria’s leadership has said it does not intend to open a front against Israel.
Israel strikes Syria’s Damascus, Hama airport
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Israel strikes Syria’s Damascus, Hama airport
- Israel has claimed the center was used to develop guided missiles and chemical weapons
- Casualties were also reported following the airstrikes on Hama
Syria’s growth accelerates as sanctions ease, refugees return
- Economy grows much faster than World Bank’s 1% estimate, fueling plans for currency’s relaunch
NEW YORK: Syria’s economy is growing much faster than the World Bank’s 1 percent estimate for 2025 as refugees flow back after the end of a 14-year civil war, fueling plans for the relaunch of the country’s currency and efforts to build a new Middle East financial hub, central bank Governor AbdulKader Husrieh has said.
Speaking via video link at a conference in New York, Husrieh also said he welcomed a deal with Visa to establish digital payment systems and added that the country is working with the International Monetary Fund to develop methods to accurately measure economic data to reflect the resurgence.
The Syrian central bank chief, who is helping guide the war-torn country’s reintegration into the global economy after the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime about a year ago, described the repeal of many US sanctions against Syria as “a miracle.”
The US Treasury on Nov. 10 announced a 180-day extension of the suspension of the so-called Caesar sanctions against Syria; lifting them entirely requires approval by the US Congress.
Husrieh said that based on discussions with US lawmakers, he expects the sanctions to be repealed by the end of 2025, ending “the last episode of the sanctions.”
“Once this happens, this will give comfort to our potential correspondent banks about dealing with Syria,” he said.
Husrieh also said that Syria was working to revamp regulations aimed at combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, which he said would provide further assurances to international lenders.
Syria’s central bank has recently organized workshops with banks from the US, Turkiye, Jordan and Australia to discuss due diligence in reviewing transactions, he added.
Husrieh said that Syria is preparing to launch a new currency in eight note denominations and confirmed plans to remove two zeroes from them in a bid to restore confidence in the battered pound.
“The new currency will be a signal and symbol for this financial liberation,” Husrieh said. “We are glad that we are working with Visa and Mastercard,” Husrieh said.
