Syria to UN: Israeli 'aggression will cause a conflagration'
In letter to the world body, Syrian foreign ministry urges Security Council to condemn alleged 'Israeli strikes’ near Damascus ‘and take steps to stop its aggression'; accuses Israel of supporting terror organizations, including ISIS, in order to ‘perpetuate occupation of Arab lands.’
President Bashar al-Assad’s regime sent the warning to the UN in a letter after his army issued a statement that Israel attacked Syrian territory three times early on Tuesday with jets and ground-to-ground missiles.
“Israel’s aggressive attitude will lead to a regional conflagration and further exacerbate the situation. This is in order to support terror and perpetuate the occupation of Arab lands,” read the letter that was delivered to the UN secretary-general and the chairman of the Security Council.
Echoing the claims that were made on state television, the missive accused Israel of launching Tuesday’s strikes on Syrian turf.
“The repeated Israeli strikes on Syria will not succeed in protecting terror organizations of Israel’s that are used as its agents, with the heads being ISIS and the Al-Nusra Front,” the letter continued.
“Moreover, it will not succeed in diverting the Syrian army from making achievements in the struggle against terror across the country, and recently in the Idlib and Quneitra localities,” the ministry stated.
The Syrian government will repeat its warning to Israel, the letter added, “of the serious consequences of striking Syria and the continued support to armed terror movements, and it holds it responsible. The Security Council must condemn the Israeli strikes and take steps to stop its aggression.”
The Syrian army said earlier that Israeli jets fired missiles at the Al-Qutaifa area near Damascus from inside Lebanese airspace at 2:40 am, and that Syrian air defenses hit one of the planes.
After alleging that Israel then fired ground-to-ground rockets from the Golan Heights, the Syrian army claimed that its defenses had brought the missiles down.
"At around 2:40 am, the Israeli air force fired a number of missiles over Lebanese territory at the Al-Qutayfah in the suburbs of the capital of Damascus. Our air defense systems responded and hit one of the planes," the Syrian army said.
