After strikes, Syria says Israel is backing anti-regime ‘terrorists’
In letters to UN, Damascus claims Jerusalem conspiring with rebels, expresses ‘astonishment’ at Security Council’s inaction
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Syria on Saturday issued letters of complaint to the United Nations in which it denounced the day’s Israeli strikes on Syrian army targets, accusing the Jewish state of conspiring with local “terror groups,” the Ynet website reported.
In the morning the Israeli army hit three Syrian artillery targets in the Golan Heights, in a response hours after five projectiles landed in open ground in Israel as a result of spillover fire from the fighting in Syria.
“The recent Israeli attack on the outskirts of Quneitra is a new chapter in the conspiracy between the Israeli occupation and armed terror groups, and another attempt to support these organizations,” Syria’s Foreign Ministry said in messages sent to the UN secretary general and the UN Security Council.
Damascus warned of the “dire consequences of these repeated aggressive actions, which cannot be seen as anything but support for terrorism and the criminal terror groups.”
It further expressed “utter astonishment at the Security Council’s inability to stop these Israeli attacks and condemn them.”
The IDF vowed to intensify its responses to future stray fire. “Even if this is just spillover, this is an exceptional incident and the continuance of such events will be met with a more fierce Israeli response,” a statement by the IDF said.
“The IDF will not tolerate any attempt to harm the sovereignty of the State of Israel and the security of its residents, and considers the Syrian regime responsible for what is happening in its territory,” the statement concluded.
As a result of the projectile fire, missile warning sirens were heard in a number of local communities Saturday morning. The army fired back and hit three Syrian cannons.
There were no reports of injuries or property damage.
After the IDF strike, Syria asserted that Israel had arranged for rebels to fire across the border, in order to justify an Israeli response. The Syrian army said in a statement that the attack was proof of Israel’s “cooperation with terrorist organizations in the region.”
The Times of Israel Community.