Lebanon filed an official complaint to the United Nations on Friday, August 20, claiming that Israeli jets violated its airspace in violation of the security council resolution 1701 of 2006.This followed the Israeli air force launching several missiles targeting locations in the Syrian capital Damascus and the city of Homs on Thursday night. Syrian air defense claimed that they were able to intercept most of the missiles fired from Lebanon’s air space. There are no reports of human or material damages.
As per the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), Israel fired several missiles at around 11 pm on Thursday night. The interception of the missiles caused loud explosions in Damascus and Homs. Lebanese Al-Mayadeen reported that “Israeli aggression targeted regions northwest of Damascus, and the area surrounding the Damascus international airport.”
The actual damage caused by the attack is not clear yet. The Syrian military, in a statement, said that they are in the process of assessing it. They also said they are investigating the origin of the attack. Preliminary reports indicate the missiles were launched from southeast of Beirut.
After the attack, Reuters quoted Lebanon’s defense minister Zeina Akar saying that Israeli planes “blatantly violated Lebanon’s airspace at low altitude, causing a state of panic among citizens.” UNSC resolution 1701 was adopted to end the Israeli aggression of south Lebanon in 2006, according to which both the countries had agreed to respect the blue line.
According to the local media, some of the remnants of the missiles also fell in Lebanese territories. Lebanon also complained to UNIFIL about Israeli planes carrying out reconnaissance missions over Lebanese air space.
Several media organizations linked the attacks with Hezbollah’s recent declaration of importing oil from Iran. On Wednesday, Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah claimed that Lebanon is importing oil f
rom Iran in a televised message. The vessel carrying oil will be considered Lebanese territory from the moment it leaves the Iranian port in an apparent warning to Israel which has allegedly targeted several Iranian ships in the region recently.
Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes inside Syria, often using the Lebanese airspace since the beginning of the war in 2011. Most attacks go unacknowledged by Israel. On rare occasions when it admits to the offensive, it claims to be targeting the Iranian military installations inside Syria. The Syrian government claims that most Israeli attacks are on civilian targets in Damascus or other major cities to help the anti-government forces.
