Israel launches strikes on weapons in southern Syria
Israel said it had launched strikes on weapons belonging to Syria, hours after reports that two projectiles had been fired from Syria into Israel on Tuesday.The Israeli strikes on southern Syria caused "significant human and material losses", Syria's foreign ministry said, adding that Israel was "trying to destabilise the region". Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he held Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa responsible for the projectiles launched into Israel.Despite recent indirect talks to ease tensions between the two countries, Israel has stepped up attacks on targets in Syria since Sharaa led a rebel offensive that overthrew Bashar al-Assad's regime in December 2024.
"Violent explosions shook southern Syria, notably the town of Quneitra and the Daraa region, following Israeli aerial strikes," said the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group.In a statement, Syria's foreign ministry said: "This escalation constitutes a blatant violation of Syrian sovereignty and aggravates tensions in the region."Syria has never been and will never be a threat to anyone in the region." It was unclear how many people were killed or injured in Israel's strikes. Israel said the strikes came after two projectiles launched from Syria landed in open areas of the country, causing no injuries.Israeli media reported that the strikes were the first launched from Syria since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime. It was not immediately clear who fired the projectiles."We consider the president of Syria directly responsible for any threat and fire toward the State of Israel," Katz said.Syria's foreign ministry said reports of the launches from inside Syria "have not been verified yet".When the Assad regime was deposed, Israel launched a wave of attacks to degrade Syrian military infrastructure.It has also encouraged the expansion of settlements in the occupied Golan Heights, territory which Israel seized from Syria in 1976 and is considered illegally occupied under international law.Last month, US President Donald Trump announced plans to lift decade-old sanctions on Syria, imposed in response to atrocities committed by forces loyal to Assad during a 13-year civil war.During that conflict, more than 600,000 people were killed and 12 million others were forced from their homes.Last month, Israel bombed an area near Syria's presidential palace in Damascus, a strike which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said was a "clear message" that it would "not allow the deployment of forces south of Damascus".UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the bombing was a "violation of Syria's sovereignty".
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