A Russian military plane took off from Hmeimim air base in Syria on December 15
“The work of the Russian Embassy in Damascus continues,” Reuters on December 16 quoted the announcement of the Crisis Response Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the Telegram channel.
TASS news agency quoted information from the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirming that all of the country’s diplomats have been evacuated from Syria.
In another development, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Israel launched attacks this morning (December 16) against military sites in the Tartus coastal region of Syria. Tartus is also home to a Russian naval base in the Mediterranean.
“Israeli warplanes attacked a series of locations, including positions of air defense units and surface-to-surface missile depots,” AFP quoted the above organization’s information.
This organization commented that these were the most intense bombardments targeting the Syrian coastal region since 2012.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on December 15 that he had a phone call with US President-elect Donald Trump about moves in Syria and Gaza, according to Reuters on December 16.
Mr. Netanyahu said he spoke with Mr. Trump on the night of December 14. However, a spokesman for the US president-elect refused to provide further details about this call.
According to Mr. Netanyahu, they discussed the situation in Syria following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s government. Israel has conducted hundreds of attacks on Syria’s strategic weapons depots since Mr. Assad left the country, and moved troops into the demilitarized zone inside Syrian territory.
Despite the moves being made in Syria, the Israeli Prime Minister still emphasized that the country has no interest in conflict with Syria.
