Russia condemns alleged Israeli ‘air aggression’ on Syria

AFP / SANAMen assessing the damage caused to a building by a reported Israeli air strike near the western Syrian coastal city of Tartus, on July 2, 2022.

Russia’s foreign ministry on Monday called Israeli-blamed strikes on Syria unacceptable and demanded an unconditional cessation of the attacks.

On Saturday, Syria accused Israel of launching an “air aggression” from the Mediterranean, west of Lebanon’s second-largest city Tripoli, with several missiles targeting an area to the south of Tartus.

Israel’s military declined to comment on the strikes, which would be the first since Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid took office as the interim premier ahead of a November 1 election.

“We strongly condemn such irresponsible actions that violate the sovereignty of Syria and the basic norms of international law, and we demand their unconditional cessation,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

 

The Syrian Defense Ministry said two civilians were wounded in the strikes and that there was some material damage near the town of Al-Hamidiyah.

A facility that was struck is used by Lebanon’s Shiite militant group Hezbollah, a Syrian government ally, according to The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor.

Al-Hamidiyah is located south of Tartus, a bastion of the Syrian government and home to a naval port used by Russia, whose armed forces back the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Since the civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes against its northern neighbor, targeting Syrian government troops as well as allied Iran-backed forces and fighters from Hezbollah.

This is not the first time Russia reprimanded Israel for airstrikes on Syria.