Israel inflicted airstrikes on the Sheikh Nadzhar industrial area in Syrian Aleppo, Bashar al-Jaafari, the Permanent Representative of Syria to the UN, said. He stressed that the attack was made at the moment when, at the initiative of Damascus, the meeting of the UN Security Council on the Golan Heights began.
“At the time when the Security Council meeting began, Israel struck the Sheikh Najjar district in Aleppo, which is almost 500 km from Golan,” said al-Jaafari.
He stressed that the air defense of the Arab Republic were able to repel several blows.
The goal of the attack, in addition to Sheikh Najara, was a civilian airport and a town Jibrin, a representative of the Aleppo militia told RIA Novosti. He also said that the number of casualties is still unknown, as well as the extent of the damage.
“The attacks were committed at the civil airport, Jibrin and Sheikh Nadzhar. We find out about the damage and injuries, ”said the agency interlocutor.
According to the Ikhbariya state television channel, the blow was struck around 23:00 local time. At the same time, a military source told the channel, no - only material damage.
“At about 11:00 pm on Wednesday, our air defense weapons repulsed an air attack on a number of objects in the industrial town of Sheikh Nadzhar, northeast of Aleppo, and shot down several missiles. The damage is only material, ”RIA Novosti reports a source statement from the Syrian media.
At the same time, the Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post claims that about 10 people died. Reuters, citing sources in the Syrian opposition, said that in the area of the Israeli air force strikes were the objects of armed formations controlled by Iran.
It is also reported that power outages were observed in all of Aleppo after the attack.
Syrian news agency SANA has published a video of the attacks allegedly inflicted by Israeli aircraft.
The Israel Defense Forces refused to comment on reports of a missile strike in Syria, citing the fact that foreign media reported the attack.
“We do not comment on foreign media reports,” TASS quoted the spokesman for the IDF.
"The Israeli Air Force struck three blows"
Recall, Israel has repeatedly hit the territory of Syria. The last incident occurred on January 21 of this year.
“On January 21, 2019, from 02:11 to 02:56, the Israeli air force launched three air strikes on the territory of Syria from the western, south-western and southern directions. In the course of repelling the strike, the SAR defense forces destroyed more than 30 cruise missiles and guided air bombs, ”the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
The defense department stressed that the attack killed four Syrian soldiers and six injured, and the infrastructure of Damascus International Airport was damaged.
Israel confirmed the attack. At the same time, Tel Aviv claims that the strikes were inflicted in response to the launch of the earth-to-ground rocket on the northern part of the Golan Heights. The Israeli military is blaming the incident for the special forces of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Al-Quds.
The IDF claims that the strikes were carried out on the military facilities of this special unit - an ammunition depot, a training camp, a reconnaissance point and another facility located on the territory of Damascus airport.
Tel Aviv blamed the collision on Damascus and expressed readiness to continue “to act as necessary to protect the civilian population of Israel.”
It is worth noting that the attack on the Damascus airport was the second in a day - on January 20, Israel launched an attack on the southeast of the Syrian capital, but it was reflected by the Russian-made Pantsir and Buk anti-aircraft complexes. This was reported in the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, commenting on these events, stressed that Tel Aviv will continue to operate in Syria in order to "resist Iran’s attempts" to gain a foothold in the country.
“Our constant policy is to resist Iran’s attempts to gain a foothold in Syria and damage those who are trying to harm us,” the press service quoted Netanyahu as saying.
- F-16 Israeli Air Force
- AFP
- © JACK GUEZ
“As part of an attempt to prolong the crisis”
Later, in connection with the attack on the Damascus airport, the Arab Ministry of Foreign Affairs appealed to the UN Security Council and to the Secretary General of the organization, António Guterres. About this January 21 reported SANA.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Migrants confirmed that the new Israeli aggression against Syria is being carried out as part of Israel’s continuing attempts to prolong the crisis in Syria and the terrorist war against it, as well as to raise the morale of the remaining terrorist centers," the agency reported.
And on January 23, al-Jaafari warned that if measures are not taken against Israel by the UN Security Council, Syria reserves the right to make a reciprocal attack on the Tel Aviv airport.
“Either the time has come for the Security Council to take the measures necessary to stop the regular Israeli attacks on the Syrian territories, or Syria needs to attract the attention of those who create wars in this Council, exercising their legitimate right to defend and respond to the Israeli attack on Damascus International Airport, having hit Tel Aviv airport, ”RIA Novosti quotes him.