Israel's bold strike on strategic tartus port shakes Syria

Tartus is a deep-water port on the Mediterranean Sea. As previously covered by money.pl, its use was Russia's most important strategic and geopolitical interest in Syria. However, Israel dared to attack the Syrian port on Sunday during a period when the country was thrown into chaos following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's regime.

The Israeli attack was confirmed by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) based in London. It was emphasised that it was the "heaviest attack" in this area in over a decade. Tartus is inhabited primarily by the Alawite population, from which the family of the deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad originates.

"Israeli warplanes launched strikes targeting a series of sites including air defence units and "surface-to-surface missile depots," reported SOHR. A video appeared on social media showing a massive explosion.

The Times of Israel reported that the explosion was so powerful that seismologists recorded it as an earthquake with a magnitude of 3.1. Tartus and neighbouring Latakia are strategic military points and key commercial and industrial centres. Due to their significance to the country's economy and security, these maritime ports are extremely important for the new Syrian authorities.

The Russians have already moved part of their fleet from the Tartus port to the sea and left the Humaymim airbase. By the beginning of December 2024, as it became apparent that the rebel forces were pushing out the Russian-backed Assad troops, Russian commanders decided to withdraw main units from the base and evacuate part of the personnel and equipment. Officially, they describe it as a strategic regrouping of forces. Russian diplomats at this time are seeking an agreement with the new authorities in Syria. They hope to maintain a minimal regional presence and protect their interests.

As previously reported by money.pl, Russia has been managing Tartus with varying intensity for 50 years. They established a naval base for warships there, including submarines.

Tartus was used as early as the 1970s to receive Soviet weapons purchased by Syrians. Initially, the Russians rented part of the pier, but under agreements with the Syrian government, it was gradually transformed into a naval base. Russia confirmed the right to use the port with a shrewd agreement in 2005, when it forgave 73 per cent of Syria's debt from the Soviet era, according to Radio Free Europe. After the conflict in Syria broke out in 2011, the base became the main logistical point for weapon supplies for the Syrian regime and a rallying point for Russian forces.

As recently as 2019, Russia signed a lease agreement for the entire port for another 49 years, with plans to expand the docks. - In the Tartus base, there were also many civilian units rented by the Russian Federation, serving as the so-called Syria Express, supplying Russian troops and Assad's army with ammunition. However, these operations were suspended due to the threat from Ukrainian drones in the Black Sea. They were replaced with air transport. Many of these units are stranded in the port. Presumably, the Russians will withdraw them, using them initially to evacuate personnel and equipment - commented Jacek Tarociński, an analyst on the security and defence team of the Centre for Eastern Studies.

Since the fall of Assad's regime on December 8, Israeli forces have carried out hundreds of attacks on military targets in Syria, destroying "most of the stockpiles of strategically important weapons in the country" - informed the Israeli army last week. It was assessed that the attacks eliminated even 90 per cent of the surface-to-air missiles in the Syrian army's arsenal.