The Assad regime has demanded a UN response to Thursday’s Israeli airstrikes inside Syria on a complex involved in the regime’s chemical weapons and ballistic missile programs.
The Israeli raid targeted the facility of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center, which has overseen chemical and missile development, near Maysaf in Hama Province. The regime’s military has not acknowledged any connection to specialized programs, but has said two troops were killed in the strikes.
See Israel’s Warplanes Strike Regime “Chemical Weapons Center” in Syria
The regime’s Foreign Ministry sent a note to the UN Security Council later Thursday, declaring “the catastrophic consequences of such attacks which complement the ISIS crimes and practices”.
The Ministry also did not refer to the nature of the SSRC, referring only to “one of the Syrian military positions”. It maintain Israel’s motive was upset over “the great achievements made by the Syrian Arab army and its allies in their war against terrorism”, including this week’s breaking of the Islamic State siege of Deir ez-Zor city in eastern Syria.
Without providing evidence, the Ministry claimed Israel is seeking to protect both ISIS and the jihadists of Jabhat al-Nusra, now known as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and part of the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham bloc.
Israel does not officially confirm its periodic airstrikes, which have included attacks on warehouses and convoys with advanced weapons for the Lebanese organization Hezbollah and the killing of Hezbollah and Iranian officers near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
However, former head of Israeli military intelligence Amos Yadlin said Thursday that the strike on the SSRC included the targeting of “precision missiles which will have a significant role in the next round of conflict”.
He continued, “The attack sent three important messages….Israel won’t allow for empowerment and production of strategic arms….Israel intends to enforce its red lines, despite the fact that the great powers are ignoring them….The presence of Russian air defense does not prevent airstrikes attributed to Israel.”