Despite being caught up in an imminent military conflict with Ukraine, Russia has called on Israel to cease its airstrikes inside of Syria; Zakharova: Russia systematically and resolutely opposes attempts to turn Syria into a scene of armed confrontation between third countries.
Following recent Israeli strikes in Syria, the Russian government is calling on the Jewish State to end all airstrikes inside the war-torn country. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated last week, “Once again, we are insistently calling upon the Israeli side to refrain from such use of force.”
The spokeswoman went on to say the strikes “are a crude violation of Syria’s sovereignty and may trigger a sharp escalation of tensions.” However, if Israel were to cease all airstrikes in the country, the result would be an established Iranian presence north of Israel’s border – something Israel has long vowed to prevent.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz reiterated his commitment to keeping Iran out of Syria, stating, “We will continue to prevent the Iranian entrenchment that is eating Syria up from the inside…This is a supreme interest for the Syrian people and the regime: to stabilize, to remove Iranian forces from their territory and allow the country to be rehabilitated.”
The Jewish State has increased its military strikes inside of Syria over the last few years, almost always targeting Iranian entrenchment via Tehran’s terror proxies in the region. The increase in attacks comes as Iran – the world’s number one sponsor of terror – seeks to build a terror land bridge from Tehran to the Mediterranean Sea.
In most cases, military assets such as various weapons, explosive materials, military bases, rocket components, drones, and more are what the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) hits in these attacks. It is not uncommon for Iranian-backed fighters to be killed in Israel’s preventative and retaliatory strikes.
