Syria denounces Israeli strikes on city of Daraa
Syria’s foreign ministry denounced Israeli strikes on the city of Daraa, which it said killed and injured civilians, Reuters reported on March 18th.
The strikes on March 17th killed at least three people and injured 19 other people, according to the Syrian civil defence group, known as the White Helmets.
The Israeli army confirmed the strikes, which are the latest in a series of attacks targeting Syria’s military infrastructure since primarily Sunni Muslim Islamist fighters ousted President Bashar al-Assad in December.
“This is a strategy of Israel [to] really reduce the country’s military capacity, particularly its defence capacity, and now Israel is going further, saying well it doesn’t want any military presence in the south of Syria,” Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar said.
Serdar added: “Of course, for the government in Damascus [this] is a huge, huge challenge, so practically, that means they’re not in control of the southern cities of Syria.”
Since Assad lost power, Israel has conducted hundreds of airstrikes in Syria. It also sent troops to a United Nations-patrolled buffer zone, located on the Golan Heights.
This is not something new, as even during Assad’s rule, Israel regularly targeted Syria, claiming it was bombing Hezbollah and Iranian targets.
Reuters, Al Jazeera
