Israel Destroys Hama Military Airport in Escalating Airstrikes Across Syria
Warplanes Strike Key Military Sites in Hama, Homs, and Damascus as Artillery Shelling Kills Civilians in Daraa
Watan-Israeli warplanes launched a series of intense airstrikes late Wednesday into Thursday, targeting military sites in central and southern Syria. The most prominent of these strikes hit the Hama Military Airport, which was completely destroyed. Other sites in the countryside of Homs and Damascus were also targeted, while Daraa province witnessed a military escalation that killed civilians and prompted calls for mass protests during the victims’ funerals on Thursday.
According to sources in the Syrian Ministry of Defense’s monitoring units, the Israeli Air Force carried out around 20 airstrikes on the Hama Military Airport, located south of Hama city in central Syria, resulting in its total destruction. The raids reportedly destroyed five hangars that contained warplanes, a missile defense system, and an ammunition depot, triggering massive explosions and fires that raged for hours.
The airport included a main asphalt runway measuring 2,783 meters in length and 45.5 meters in width, along with several helipads. It sits at an elevation of 309 meters above sea level. It had housed MiG-21 and MiG-23 fighter jets, light attack aircraft, and helicopters that had previously been used to drop barrel bombs on civilians before the fall of the Assad regime.
Israel Targets More Syrian Sites, Kills Civilians in Daraa
The airstrikes were not limited to the airport. Two more strikes reportedly hit Brigade 99, located west of the airport, destroying a weapons depot used by military units stationed in the area. The resulting explosions caused panic among residents of Hama, as the brigade is near populated neighborhoods.
Israeli jets also bombed the T4 Airbase in eastern Homs countryside with two airstrikes, destroying several aircraft hangars. No confirmed reports were available regarding casualties at the base.
In Damascus, Israeli aircraft carried out a strike on the Scientific Research Center in the Barzeh residential area in the northern part of the capital. The strike caused further destruction to a facility that has already been targeted multiple times since the collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024. No information was reported on casualties in this latest strike.
Nine Civilians Killed in Israeli Shelling on Daraa
Simultaneously, artillery shelling by Israeli forces in Daraa province killed nine civilians near the town of Nawa in western Daraa. The bombardment led to widespread public outrage, with calls for mass protests during the victims’ funerals on Thursday afternoon, set to begin at the Rural Development Center and proceed to the Martyrs’ Cemetery after noon prayers.
These developments come amid growing public anger over the ongoing Israeli assaults in the Daraa countryside, which have claimed the lives of civilians, including young men and farmers who were in the fields when Israeli forces infiltrated the Tasil Forest area, near Nawa and the town of Tasil in western Daraa.
Recently, Daraa province has seen an increase in military operations, as Israel seeks to expand its influence along Syria’s southern border. On March 25, Israeli forces killed six young men and wounded 35 others during a ground incursion into the village of Koya in the Yarmouk Basin area of western Daraa countryside.
