'Hiroshima in Tartus': Israeli strikes shake Tartus, martyrs reported

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen
Today 03:13
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The most violent Israeli aggression on Syria, which targeted Tartus, on Monday at dawn, resulted in the killing and injury of civilians.

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Huge explosions and flames erupt following an Israeli strike on Tartous, Syria, on December 16, 2024. (Social media)

Israeli strikes in Tartus countryside caused massive explosions, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported early Monday, as the Israeli regime continues to target and destroy Syria's military capabilities.

Several civilians were killed and injured in what has been described as the heaviest and most violent attacks on Syria since the onset of Israeli aggression. The intense bombardment on the city was so powerful that it caused an earthquake-like tremor, which residents could physically feel, according to Al Mayadeen's correspondent.

Israeli media reporting on the bombing described the aggression as a "Hiroshima in Tartus" due to the intensity of the attacks.

Our correspondent said that the strikes targeted weapons depots in several sites in western Syria.

انفجارات عنيفة في ريف #طرطوس الشرقي من جراء غارات إسرائيلية استهدفت عدداً من المواقع ومستودعات الذخيرة.#سوريا pic.twitter.com/jAteZ4jJSj
— قناة الميادين (@AlMayadeenNews) December 15, 2024

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, "Israeli warplanes launched strikes" targeting a series of sites including air defense units and "surface-to-surface missile depots," with the blasts so powerful they registered as a magnitude 3.0 on seismic sensors.

Videos circulating online captured the moment, showing a bright flash followed by a towering mushroom cloud of smoke.

Researcher Richard Cordaro noted that the blast signal traveled nearly twice as fast as a typical earthquake, detected as far as 820km away in Isnik in western Turkiye by a magnetometer station.

On Monday morning, the occupation resumed its aggression on Syria, targeting a military site in the al-Bukamal desert in the eastern Deir Ezzor province, our correspondent reported.

These strikes coincide with a ground advance into Syrian territories by mechanized Israeli forces, who have occupied the buffer zone east of the Golan, as well as other areas. Israeli occupation forces further expanded their offensive into the Quneitra countryside, occupying several villages in the Daraa province, as well as Beit Jinn farm and Maghar al-Mir in the Damascus countryside.

Al Mayadeen's correspondent noted that on Sunday Israeli occupation forces expanded their advance into the Quneitra province, adding that occupation troops are just 15 km off of the highway connecting Lebanon's capital to Syria's.

Following the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad on December 8, the Israeli regime launched wide-scale aerial aggression on Syria, destroying strategic Syrian military capabilities. This includes the vast majority of the Syrian air defense array, as well as ammunition depots, anti-ship missiles, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles.