5 killed, 15 injured in Israeli air strikes on Syria’s Damascus

Damascus [Syria], February 20 (ANI): At least 5 people were killed and 15 were injured after Israel launched air strikes on Syria’s capital Damascus’ residential building, SANA, the Syrian news agency reported. According to the Syrian news agency, the raids occurred on early Sunday when the Israeli jet hit a building in central Damascus’s Kafr Sousa neighbourhood near a large, heavily guarded security complex close to Iranian installations, witnesses said.

After the incident, the quake-affected country’s Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said that Syria expect that United Nations Security Council would condemn the Israeli aggression. “Syria expects the United Nations Secretariat and Security Council to condemn Israeli aggression and crimes, take the necessary measures to deter them, hold them accountable, punish their perpetrators and ensure they do not recur,” the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said on Sunday.

The Ministry said, in a statement, that at the time when Syria was trying to heal its wounds, bury its martyrs, and receive condolences, sympathy and international humanitarian support in facing the devastating earthquake, the Israeli entity launched an air aggression today targeting the civilian-populated residential neighbourhoods in Damascus, reported SANA. On February 6, a 7.8 magnitude quake hit Turkey and Syria leading to the death of over 5,800 people. The toll death toll from Turkey and Syria crossed 46,000, Al Jazeera reported.

The ministry added, “The aggression comes in the context of the systematic Israeli attacks against the Syrian civilian targets, including homes, service centres, airports, and ports, intimidating the Syrians who are still suffering from the catastrophic effects left by the earthquake and working to support those affected by it.”

The ministry noted that the hostile action also coincides with the attacks carried out by Daesh (ISIS) terrorist organization, claiming the lives of dozens of innocent civilians in the eastern countryside of Homs province. The ministry stressed that “the continuation of these brutal attacks and crimes against the Palestinian and Syrian people constitutes an explicit threat to peace and security in the region and requires urgent international action to stop the Israeli aggressive actions on Syrian territory, according to SANA.