Russia claims Israel violated Jordanian and Iraqi airspace in recent Syria attacks, expresses ‘concern and resentment’
A Lebanese newspaper on Thursday reported that Tuesday’s rocket attack on the Golan Heights from Syria was retaliation for recent Israeli strikes near a soon-to-be-opened border crossing along the Syria-Iraq frontier.
In recent months, construction has picked up around the Albukamal crossing, which Israel fears will be used by Iran to transport weapons, equipment and fighters through Iraq, into Syria and onward to Lebanon and other countries in the region.
A number of Israeli airstrikes have been reported in the Albukamal region in recent months, but the facility nevertheless appears poised to open.
According to the Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar, citing Syrian military sources, Israel conducted such a strike eight days ago, bombing a truck that was passing through the area and killing the driver.
The Russian Foreign Ministry late Wednesday night also said Israel conducted an attack on Monday, “with the Israeli aircraft reportedly violating the airspace of Iraq and Jordan.”
It was not immediately clear if these were two separate strikes or a discrepancy in the reported date of the same incident. The Israeli military refuses to comment on its airstrikes in Syria, save for those that are in response to attacks.
The Syrian military sources told al-Akhbar that “the enemy is seeking to destroy movement back and forth between Iraq and Syria in order to prevent the resistance axis from benefiting from that.
“The response of firing four rockets is tantamount to a message to the enemy that security in the Albukamal crossing is directly connected to the security of the state,” the Syrian sources said.
They added that the deadly strike on the truck also “demands a response in accordance with the established rules of engagement.”
The four rockets were fired toward northern Israel from Syria early on Tuesday morning; all were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system.
In response, the IDF launched a series of airstrikes on dozens of Iranian and Syrian military targets in Syria in the predawn hours of Wednesday morning, killing between 10 and 20 fighters, according to a senior Israeli defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The death toll reported by a Syrian civil war monitor was somewhat higher.
On Wednesday night, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Israel’s airstrikes in Syria were “causing serious concern and resentment in Moscow.”
It said Israel fired 40 cruise missiles during its strikes, which were primarily focused on the Syrian capital of Damascus and the surrounding area.
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