Murtaza Hussain and Ali Younes report:

Over a decade of civil war and sanctions have laid waste to much of Syria, crippling its economy and sending much of its population into exile. Already struggling to recover from this carnage, Syria is now facing attacks from Israel that threaten to destabilize the country.

On Tuesday night, a wave of Israeli airstrikes struck targets near Damascus and other cities in southern Syria, with initial reports indicating that at least one person was killed. The airstrikes were just the latest episode in a broader Israeli campaign aimed at crippling the military capacity of the new government, while sending ground forces to occupy swathes of territory south of the capital.

The Syrian government had previously called on the international community to force Israel to withdraw its troops from its territory—a request for intervention that had little chance of being realized. Recent threatening statements by Israeli officials have triggered protests across Syria, increasing political pressure on the government, led by Sunni Islamists affiliated with the militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), to defend the country against increasingly brazen violations of its sovereignty.

Yet the ability of Syria—immiserated by a decade-plus war that killed hundreds of thousands, destroyed most of its major cities, displaced half its population, and saw its economy shrink by 85%—to take immediate steps to repel a far superior Israeli military power backed by the U.S. is questionable. [Continue reading…]