An official in the Syrian Democratic Forces called on Israel on Monday to take action against Turkey’s military incursion into northern Syria.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also expressed confidence that the Jewish people would not neglect the plight of Kurds in northern Syria, invoking its history of persecution.
“The State of Israel must work to put an end to this war that is killing women and children and expelling civilians from their homes,” the official told The Times of Israel in a text message.
Ankara launched a cross-border attack against Syria’s Kurds on October 9 after the US announced a military pullout from the north of the war-torn country.
Last Thursday, however, a US-brokered ceasefire was declared, giving the SDF until Tuesday evening to withdraw from a 30-kilometer buffer zone Turkey wants to create along its southern frontier.
Despite the announcement of the ceasefire, some fighting between Turkish and SDF forces has continued along the border.
The SDF has been a key ally to Washington in the US-backed fight against Islamic State group jihadists in Syria, but Turkey views its forces as terrorists linked to Kurdish militants on its own soil.
“I am certain that the Jewish people understand the situation of the Kurdish people best because it lived these types of dangers throughout much of its history. I am sure that it will not stand by idly as our region faces Turkey’s terror,” the SDF official said.
Since Turkey commenced its invasion, more than 300,000 civilians have been displaced, according to Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Dozens of mainly Syrian Kurdish civilians have also been killed in fighting.
Amnesty International has accused Turkey’s miltiary as well as Turkish-backed militias of carrying out war crimes, exhibiting “a shameful disregard for civilian life.” The group also documented a Turkish-supported militia’s grim murder of a female, Syrian Kurdish politician.
On October 10, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced Turkey’s invasion of Kurdish-controlled areas of northeastern Syria and said Israel was prepared to offer humanitarian aid to the Kurds in Syria.
“Israel strongly condemns the Turkish invasion of the Kurdish areas in Syria and warns against the ethnic cleansing of the Kurds by Turkey and its proxies,” Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office at the time. “Israel is prepared to extend humanitarian assistance to the gallant Kurdish people.”
Israel has not announced whether it has attempted to deliver aid to the Syrian Kurds affected by the Turkish invasion.
No comments:
Post a Comment