NEW YORK CITY: The UN on Thursday condemned “repeated and intensifying military escalations” by Israel in the Syrian Arab Republic, including airstrikes that resulted in civilian casualties, and called for them to cease.
The organization’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said the Israeli actions “undermine efforts to build a new Syria at peace with itself and the region, and destabilize Syria at a sensitive time.”
Overnight, a fresh wave of Israeli strikes damaged military sites in the country, including Hama Air Base, where four Defense Ministry personnel were killed and dozens of people were injured.
Israeli authorities said their forces struck “capabilities that remained” at Hama, and military infrastructure in Damascus.
Israeli troops also killed gunmen during a ground operation in Daraa province, they added. Syrian authorities put the death toll there at nine.
The latest escalation comes amid reports that Turkish authorities are making moves to station jets and other air defenses at bases in Syria.
The Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz, on Thursday warned Syria’s interim president, Ahmad Al-Sharaa, that he would “pay a very heavy price” if he allowed “forces hostile to Israel” to enter the country.
Pedersen called on Israel to halt the attacks, “which could amount to serious violations of international law, and respect Syria’s sovereignty and existing agreements, and also to cease unilateral actions on the ground.”
The envoy urged all parties to “prioritize diplomatic solutions and dialogue to address security concerns and prevent further escalation.”
Since the overthrow of Syria’s president, Bashar Assad, and his regime in December, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes across the country in an attempt to destroy military assets including fighter jets, tanks, missiles, air defense systems, and weapons factories and research centers.
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UN condemns Israeli attacks on Syria and calls for them to end
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UN condemns Israeli attacks on Syria and calls for them to end
- Organization’s special envoy for Syria says Israel’s actions ‘undermine efforts to build a new Syria at peace with itself and the region, and destabilize Syria at a sensitive time’
- Israeli defense minister warns Syria’s interim president he will ‘pay a very heavy price’ if he allows ‘forces hostile to Israel’ to enter the country
Iraq’s Kataeb Hezbollah says commander killed in strike
BAGHDAD: The Tehran-backed Iraqi group Kataeb Hezbollah said on Thursday that one of its commanders was killed in a strike in southern Iraq the previous day.
Ahmad Al-Hamidawi, the secretary-general of the armed faction, mourned in a statement the loss of a “great commander,” Ali Hussein Al-Freiji, who had joined the group more than two decades ago.
Two sources from the faction told AFP on Wednesday that a strike hit a vehicle near the group’s main base in southern Iraq, killing two fighters.
The toll then rose to three, including the commander.
One source described the attack as a “Zionist-US strike.”
The group’s Jurf Al-Nasr base was the first Iraqi target of strikes blamed on Israel and the US, which later expanded to other areas.
Since the start of the war, the strikes have killed 15 fighters, mostly from Kataeb Hezbollah.
Iraq, which has recently regained a sense of stability but has long been a proxy battleground between the US and Iran, had said it did not want to be dragged into the war. But it has not been spared.
Several Iran-backed armed groups — known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, to which Kataeb Hezbollah also belongs — claim daily drone attacks on US bases.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq on Thursday warned European countries not to join the war, threatening their “forces and bases in Iraq and the region.”
Earlier on Thursday, the Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported that security forces seized two rockets and a launchpad in the southern Basra province, that were set up to target a neighboring country.
Ahmad Al-Hamidawi, the secretary-general of the armed faction, mourned in a statement the loss of a “great commander,” Ali Hussein Al-Freiji, who had joined the group more than two decades ago.
Two sources from the faction told AFP on Wednesday that a strike hit a vehicle near the group’s main base in southern Iraq, killing two fighters.
The toll then rose to three, including the commander.
One source described the attack as a “Zionist-US strike.”
The group’s Jurf Al-Nasr base was the first Iraqi target of strikes blamed on Israel and the US, which later expanded to other areas.
Since the start of the war, the strikes have killed 15 fighters, mostly from Kataeb Hezbollah.
Iraq, which has recently regained a sense of stability but has long been a proxy battleground between the US and Iran, had said it did not want to be dragged into the war. But it has not been spared.
Several Iran-backed armed groups — known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, to which Kataeb Hezbollah also belongs — claim daily drone attacks on US bases.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq on Thursday warned European countries not to join the war, threatening their “forces and bases in Iraq and the region.”
Earlier on Thursday, the Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported that security forces seized two rockets and a launchpad in the southern Basra province, that were set up to target a neighboring country.
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