Egypt and Arab League condemn Israeli airstrikes on Syria

11 years ago | Posted in: Latest Politics News | 640 Views

Yesterday (May 5), Egypt and the Arab League both condemned recent Israeli airstrikes on targets in Syria. Syria said that the Israeli strike gives direct support to terrorist groups.

Both Egypt and the Arab League have demanded that the UN Security Council act to stop the “Israeli attacks”. The Egyptian president’s office issued a statement that said:that the strikes “violated international law and principles that will further complicate the situation.” Israel claims the strikes targeted rockets bound for Hezbollah in neighbouring Lebanon. Israel has long threatened to stop any transfers of weapons to Hezbollah as they could be used in attacks from the north.

The Arab League also demanded that the UN Security Council should act to stop the attacks immediately as they are a dangerous violation of an Arab States’ sovereignty. Both Egypt and the Arab League support rebels against the Assad regime.

Syria also said that the “Israeli aggression” killed and wounded a number of people and caused widespread damage. The Syrian deputy Foreign Minister called the attacks a “declaration of war”.He also claimed that the attacks show that there is an alliance between Israel and Islamists to try to overthrow the Assad government.

Israel moved Iron Dome missile defense units to the north near the Lebanon border after its attacks in case there is a response from Hezbollah. Israeli planes violated Lebanese airspace several times lately and in the attacks on Syria as well.

Lebanon’s National News said: “Israeli occupation army raised the degree of mobilization of its troops along the Lebanese southern border, in the wake of the raid by Israeli warplanes at dawn on targets inside Syria, a thing which was met by increased security measures by the Lebanese army and UNIFIL, in anticipation of any military developments.”

Iran also condemned the Israeli attacks and urged other countries in the area to also condemn the raids. Iran said that the move was part of efforts by Israel to create instability in the area. While earlier Israeli strikes were said to target weapons bound for Hezbollah, recent strikes seem to have also targeted a military research facility near Damascus which was also targeted back in January according to the Syrian government. Syrian TV claimed: “The new Israeli attack is an attempt to raise the morale of the terrorist groups which have been reeling from strikes by our noble army.”

Ali Rizk, a Middle East expert, claims that these strikes together with the flurry of intelligence reports about the use of chemical weapons are an attempt by Israel to drag the US into the conflict. According to Risk, Israel wants to drag in the US because the Syrian military has recently made gains against the rebels. Israel is telling the US that it will intervene to try and change the situation if the US does not act. Of course if Assad were to respond with attacks on Israel the US would also probably intervene.

Russia also expressed concern about the Israeli attack. Commenting on reports of the attacks, the Russian Foreign Ministry said:“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.”

source: http://digitaljournal.com

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