Israel defends airstrikes in Syria at UNSC, calls them 'limited and temporary'

Israel defended airstrikes in Syria on Monday at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and called it “limited and temporary measures to protect its citizens, particularly in the Golan Heights that borders Syria.

“It is important to emphasise, however, that Israel is not intervening in the ongoing conflict between Syrian armed groups; our actions are solely focused on safeguarding our security,” Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon wrote in a letter to the 15-member UNSC.

Danon further said that Israel remains committed to the framework of a 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying on Sunday that this pact has “collapsed.”

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Earlier on Monday, Israel launched more than 100 airstrikes on military sites in Syria targeting facilities and assets linked to former president Bashar al-Assad regime.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, these strikes included attacks on the Barzah scientific research centre near Damascus, which Western countries suspect of ties to chemical weapons production.

According to a report by Reuters, the barrage of military strikes also destructed dozens of planes, helicopters and other equipment at at least three Syrian army bases – Qamishli air base in north east Syria, the Shinshar base in the countryside near Homs, and Aqrba airport south west of Damascus.

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As per the Observatory, strikes were also reported on weapons depots in Deir Ezzor province and the Qamishli military airport in the northeast.

Reports quoted Syrian security sources as confirming that boats from the former Syrian navy were destroyed in the Latakia seaport, and air defence installations near the Mediterranean were also targeted.

However, Danon called the airstrikes “limited and temporary,” a report by Reuters quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that it would persist in the coming days.

On Monday, Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military would “destroy heavy strategic weapons throughout Syria, including surface-to-air missiles, air defence systems, surface-to-surface missiles, cruise missiles, long-range rockets, and coastal missiles”.

With inputs from agencies.