DAMASCUS: Syria condemned an Israeli occupation drone attack on a civilian vehicle in the western Damascus countryside, describing it as a flagrant violation of Syrian sovereignty and international law.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said on Saturday that an Israeli occupation drone targeted a civilian vehicle on the road between Beit Jinn Farm and Beit Jinn village, injuring a number of civilians.
The ministry said the attack constituted a blatant violation of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and a flagrant breach of international law.
Syria held the Israeli occupation fully responsible for the repercussions of its repeated attacks, warning that their continuation would increase regional tensions, undermine stability, and threaten civilian safety.
The ministry called on the international community and the UN Security Council to assume their legal and political responsibilities, halt the attacks, and put an end to repeated Israeli violations of Syrian sovereignty.
Last Tuesday, Israeli forces targeted the Yarmouk Basin area in the western Daraa countryside with an artillery shell.
Israel’s military acknowledged the strike, saying that its forces “fired in southern Syria toward a terrorist who advanced terror attacks in the final stages of preparation.”
On Saturday, Israel lambasted US envoy Tom Barrack for criticizing Tuesday's attack.
On Friday, in an interview with influencer Mario Nawfal, Barrack said the strike may have been intended to provoke a conflict with Turkiye, prompting Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz to hit back on Saturday, calling the remarks "full of inaccuracies."
Katz wrote on X on Saturday that Israel had passed on "intelligence information to the authorized parties in the US" before Tuesday's strike.
US intelligence found no evidence to support Israeli claims that Turkiye was preparing to deploy forces at the Syrian airbase bombed by Israel, Barrack said.
“We all did our due diligence. We went back to our respective intelligence agencies. The answer we got is, no, that’s not happening,” Barrack said in the interview with Nawfal.
