How can Israel attack Syria?

13 people were killed in an airstrike in Damascus on Tuesday evening, according to Syrian officials who blame Israel.

Israel has admitted to carrying out hundreds of raids on targets in Syria despite not praising every attack.

Here’s a quick explanation of the Syrian-Israeli conflict from the past year:

Why was this not mentioned?

As Israel’s military continues its war on Gaza, Lebanon, the occupied West Bank and Yemen, the attacks on Syria have flown somewhat under the radar.

Since the start of the Gaza war in October, Bashar al-Assad’s regime has been ostensibly silent, likely as an ally of the Iranian regime and a member of the larger “axis of resistance.”

Despite this, Israel has repeatedly attacked Syrian territory in the past year.

Israel bombed Syria twice in the past year, how many times?

More than 220 times since last October, according to NGO Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), which aggregates conflict data.

Air raids and artillery attacks were carried out during the attacks.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), at least 104 of those attacks, which have resulted in the deaths of at least 296 people, have occurred since January.

Israel has hit weapons depots, vehicles, and Iran-backed groups ‘ headquarters.

In April, Israeli fighter jets hit the Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in a fatal attack.

Two generals who led the elite Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon were among the dead.

How did Syria respond?

Israeli attacks have been denounced by the Syrian government.

Some rockets have been fired at Israel from Syria, which Israel claims are mostly by Iranian-backed groups.

Israeli forces attacked Syrian military targets in October 2023, but they did not accuse them of firing rockets.

As Israel expanded its war into Lebanon, and resistance groups from Iraq and Yemen got involved, Syria largely remained quiet.

The international community has little to no action in response to these attacks, despite the fact that they are a clear violation of a nation’s sovereignty.

Arab countries have condemned Israel’s attacks on Syria’s sovereignty in international fora, as has the League of Arab States.

Russia has also condemned the attacks, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova saying Tuesday’s attack was a “gross violation of Syria’s sovereignty”, adding: “It is outrageous that such actions have become a routine practice applied to Syria, Lebanon, and the Gaza Strip”.

China has also condemned Israel’s attack on Iran’s consular building, which under international law violates the sovereignty of two countries.

Beijing’s statement said: “The security of diplomatic institutions cannot be violated”.

How can Israel violate another country’s sovereignty like this?

Israel claims that it is attacking Iranian or Iranian-linked targets in Syria in a unilateral manner, which it appears to be taking for granted.

Furthermore, the United States has also attacked locations in Syria over the years, claiming to be targeting a range of “Iran-linked” places and people.

Based on its own assessment of who it considers to be an “enemy,” Israel has made statements in which it vows to continue attacking nations and groups in the area.

Did these attacks start in 2023?

No. Syria has seen a significant increase in Israeli military targets since 2011 as a result of decades of Israeli military action.

In 2017, Israel further escalated its attacks on Syria, with the latest, most notable escalation coming after October 7, 2023.

Source: Aljazeera