Russia, one of the Syrian regime’s few remaining allies, has issued a condemnation over an unconfirmed Israeli air strike against a presumed Hezbollah weapons delivery on Syrian territory. The attack was reportedly carried out near border with Lebanon. In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry described the strikes as “an attack by Israel’s Air Force on objects in Syria, near Damascus” and said in a statement: “If this information is confirmed, then we are dealing with unprovoked attacks on targets on the territory of a sovereign country, which blatantly violates the UN charter and is unacceptable, no matter the motives to justify it.”
Citing unnamed American officials, the ‘New York Times’ reported on Wednesday that Israel had notified the United States prior to the attack. Israel’s move demonstrated its determination to ensure that Hezbollah is unable to take advantage of the chaos in Syria, which has so far caused the death of 60,000 people, to bolster its arsenal significantly.
Israel itself has so far not commented on the matter. Syrian state media carried a statement by the country’s military acknowledging an Israeli attack but said it had been on a military research center outside the capital Damascus. Hezbollah did not initially comment, but on Thursday morning the Shiite terrorist group condemned the air strike, reiterating the Syrian claim that a research center rather than a weapons’ convoy had been the target.
Hezbollah said in a statement that it was in “full solidarity with Syria’s leadership, army and people”. Two people were killed and five wounded, the group said. The building had been destroyed, Syria’s state media said.
Syria and Israel are technically still in a state of war but have long maintained an uneasy peace along their decades-old armistice line. Israel has mostly watched warily and tried to stay out of Syria’s raging civil war, fearful of provoking a wider confrontation with Iran and Hezbollah. In November, however, after several mortars fell on Israel’s side of the border, its tanks struck a Syrian artillery unit.
