Syria has profoundly condemned Israel’s bombings near the capital Damascus as an explicit violation of a United Nations resolution, adding that Tel Aviv would not have been able to carry out such attacks without the backing of the US.
Israel Confirms Attacks
An Israeli security official confirmed that Israel carried out an overnight airstrike in Syria, saying a series of Iranian targets were hit. The Israeli official said the air force had attacked several Iranian targets in three main locations late Tuesday and early Wednesday. He said the targets were primarily storage and logistics facilities used by Iran to ship weapons to Hezbollah.
In two separate letters addressed to the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the head of the UN Security Council, the Syrian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday condemned the attack as a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 350, which called for a ceasefire between Israel and Syria in the wake of the Yom Kippur War.
The Foreign Ministry accused Israel of seeking to prolong the crisis in Syria, noting that such strikes are tantamount to what Daesh and other terrorist groups are doing in Syria.
Syria once again asks the Security Council to fulfil its responsibilities in keeping international peace and security and adopting firm measures to prevent the repetition of the Israeli attacks, the ministry concluded.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the airstrike and affirmed Syria’s right to defend its sovereignty. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the ministry asked the international community to denounce the aggression and counter the Israeli violation of Lebanon’s airspace to conduct strikes against its neighbour, Syria.
On Tuesday, Syrian air defence systems intercepted several missiles fired by Israeli warplanes, nearly a month after government forces foiled another Israeli act of aggression against the country.
The Israeli missiles were launched from the Lebanese airspace and most of them were downed before reaching their targets. Israeli officials argue that Iran’s presence in Syria, which is part of an advisory mission requested by the Damascus government, poses a threat to the Tel Aviv regime’s security.
The Israeli military, using this pretext, has pounded alleged positions of Iranian and Iran-backed forces across Syria over the course of the seven-year conflict.
The attacks are usually viewed as attempts to prop up foreign-sponsored Takfiri terrorist groups that have been suffering defeats at the hands of Syrian government forces and allied fighters from popular defence groups.
