Russia Condemns ‘Air Aggression’ on Syria

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s foreign ministry on Monday called strikes on Syria that have been blamed on Israel unacceptable, and demanded an unconditional cessation of the attacks.

Syria on Saturday accused Israel of launching an “air aggression” from the Mediterranean west of Lebanon’s second city Tripoli, with several missiles targeting an area to the south of Tartus.

The Israeli military declined to comment on the strikes, which would be the first since Prime Minister Yair Lapid took office as the head of the interim government ahead of a Nov. 1 election.

Israel has conducted numerous air strikes on Iranian targets in Syria to prevent the transfer of weapons to Tehran’s proxies in Syria and Lebanon, principally the Hezbollah terrorist organization.

“We strongly condemn such irresponsible actions that violate the sovereignty of Syria and the basic norms of international law, and we demand their unconditional cessation,” the Russian foreign ministry said in comments about the July 2 strikes.

The IDF and Russia have cooperated to allow the attacks while avoiding conflict or accidents with Russian forces in the country. But recently Moscow has rebuked Israel repeatedly for its actions.

The Syrian ministry of defense said the strikes injured two civilians and caused some material damage.