Syria condemns Israeli strikes as ‘blatant violation' of sovereignty
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Syria's foreign ministry on Thursday condemned as a 'blatant violation' of sovereignty the recent Israeli strikes that struck three provinces, while Israel said it was destroying 'military capabilities' in the areas.
'In a blatant violation of international law and Syrian sovereignty, Israeli forces launched airstrikes on five locations across the country within 30 minutes, resulting in the near-total destruction of Hama Military Airport and injuring dozens of civilians and military personnel,' the ministry said in a statement.
A series of Israeli strikes on Wednesday night targeted the vicinity of the scientific research center in northern Damascus, Hama military airport, and the strategic T4 air base in Homs.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) justified the strikes and said it was responding to 'military capabilities' in the area.
'The IDF struck military capabilities that remained at the Syrian bases of Hama and T4, along with additional remaining military infrastructure sites in the area of Damascus,' it said on X. 'We will continue to operate to remove any threat to Israeli civilians,'
Damascus further condemned the strikes as a 'deliberate attempt' to destabilize the country.
'At a time when Syria is striving to rebuild after 14 years of war, these repeated attacks form part of a clear Israeli strategy to normalize violence once again within the country, undermining recovery efforts and entrenching a culture of impunity,' the foreign ministry stressed.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said that four Syrian defense ministry members were killed and an additional 12 injured in the nearly 25 strikes on Hama military airport.
The strikes 'targeted the planes, railways, and towers, and put the airport completely out of service,' the Observatory said on Thursday.
Southward in Daraa province, which runs along the Syria-Israel border, the Israeli military said it launched an infiltration operation, 'confiscating weapons and destroying terrorist infrastructure.'
'During the operation, several gunmen fired at our forces in the area. The forces responded with fire and killed several armed terrorists from the ground and air,' it said on X.
At least nine civilians were killed in the Israeli raids, according to a statement from Daraa province's Telegram channel.
The infiltration operations sparked 'a great mobilization and anger after the massacre, especially in light of the occupation forces' progress for the first time to this depth,' the statement said.
Israel has reiterated that it will not allow armed forces to exist in southern Syria along its border.
In late March, a deadly Israeli strike on Daraa drew international condemnation from regional and global powers. The IDF justified the strike by saying it was targeting 'several terrorists who opened fire toward them,' while Damascus said six were killed.
Since the ousting of Bashar al-Assad in early December, Israel has scrambled to destroy Damascus's military stockpiles. It has also sent troops across the border into a buffer zone east of the annexed Golan Heights, justifying the move as a precaution amid political instability in Syria.
Throughout the Syrian civil war, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes, often under the pretext of targeting pro-Iran groups, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah, which supported Assad at the time.
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