Syria condemns Israeli strikes in Damascus, calls for UN action

Damascus, July 17 (IANS) Syria condemned the Israeli airstrikes that struck government buildings in the capital Damascus, calling them a "blatant violation" of national sovereignty and international law.

In a statement released by the foreign affairs authorities on Wednesday, Syria said the strikes targeted "civilian infrastructure and government institutions" in Damascus and surrounding areas, leaving several civilians, including women and children, injured and causing extensive material damage.

The statement said the attacks reflect Israel's "systematic policy of escalation" and its ongoing efforts to destabilise Syria and the wider region, describing them as a clear breach of the United Nations Charter and international humanitarian law.

"Syria holds Israel fully responsible for this dangerous escalation," the statement read, adding that Syria will exercise its legitimate right to self-defence by all means permitted under international law.

The statement also called on the United Nations and the international community, including the Security Council, to condemn the repeated Israeli strikes on Syrian territory and to take "urgent and decisive measures" to curb what it called Israel's repeated violations.

Later Wednesday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement condemning the Israeli strikes, reports Xinhua news agency.

"The Secretary-General further condemns Israel's escalatory airstrikes on Sweida, Daraa and in the centre of Damascus, as well as reports of the IDF's redeployment of forces in the Golan," Guterres's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

The strikes came as Israel launched a series of raids targeting Syrian army positions in Damascus and Sweida, amid ongoing violence between Druze militias, Bedouin fighters, and Syrian government forces in southern Syria.

--IANS

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