Russia is reportedly preparing a proposal for a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israel for a recent attack on Damascus airport.
Israeli officials told Kan that Moscow was working on the resolution that blamed Israel for violating international law and Syrian sovereignty, as well as undermining stability in the region. Israel hasn’t confirmed it was behind the attack that was carried out over a week ago.
Earlier in June, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow condemned Israeli “provocation” in Syria that reportedly left one civilian wounded and the airport runway damaged. All flights to and from Damascus were stalled for several days.
Last week Moscow also summoned Israeli ambassador Alex Ben-Zvi to demand clarifications on the attack. However, Israeli officials on Sunday expressed doubt that the proposed resolution would be supported by the UN members.
The resolution will certainly be vetoed by three members of the Security Council – the U.S., the U.K., and France – though only a vote by one of them is necessary to prevent it from being adopted. The resolution, then, will have no effect in the real world, but is of symbolic significance, meant to demonstrate the depth of Russian anger with the Israelis and possibly to curtail Israel operations in Syria. That won’t happen.
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) will continue to inflict damage on targets in Syria in its new, stepped-up campaign designed to prevent the transferral by Iran of advanced weapons, including precision-guided missiles, to Hezbollah. The Damascus airport was hit – and will be hit again If necessary – because Iran used civilian planes to smuggle weapons to Hezbollah operatives in Syria. Because of that, the Damascus Airport can be considered a legitimate military target.
Since the civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out numerous airstrikes against Iran-backed forces and fighters from Lebanon’s terrorist group Hezbollah that support the country’s President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
The targeted airport is located south of the capital Damascus where various terrorist organizations are active and have arms depots. An unnamed Israeli official was quoted as saying that Iran was “continuing to use Syrian territory and the airport to smuggle weapons.”
The Russian resolution has no possibility of being adopted. But its mere introduction will subject Russia to ridicule, for its feigned indignation over Israeli attacks on what Moscow wants us all to believe was a purely “civilian” target. Israel has plenty of evidence of the Damascus Airport being used to smuggle in weapons from Iran for delivery to Hezbollah, and no doubt has photographs of some of those arms being offloaded from “civilian” planes. Furthermore, Israel can present the evidence of arms depots that are scattered around the edge of the airport, where the weapons are first stored, after being removed from the planes, until secure delivery to Hezbollah operatives can be made.
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