Syria has denounced Israel to the United Nations Security Council for “flagrant defiance of international law”, after allegations that Israeli warplanes flew into its airspace last week in a possible raid on weapons destined for Hizbollah militia in Lebanon.In a letter to Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, and the Security Council, released on Tuesday, Syria’s ambassador accused Israel of “choosing aggression and escalation” which – if ignored – would “subject the region...to serious consequences that may be difficult to control”.
The letter is likely to heighten concern over the possibility of violence between the two neighbours, as well as affect the wider regional struggle between Iran, the US and their respective allies.
But an analyst in the UN secretariat did not see immediate cause for significant alarm and noted that Syria had not made as much noise about the incident as might have been expected. A UN diplomat said there were no plans to discuss the affair at the Security Council and stressed that Syria had not requested a debate.
Syria said the incident took place after midnight on September 6, but details are sketchy. CNN, international cable news channel, cited US and regional sources on Tuesday as saying that Israeli aircraft had carried out an airstrike inside Syria, “possibly targeting weapons that were destined for Hizbollah militants”.
While Israel had no comment on the report, CNN said its sources indicated that the military operation “may have also involved Israeli ground forces who directed the airstrike, which ‘left a big hole in the desert’ ”.
Syria, which last week said it had fired back at the Israeli aircraft, claimed the munitions did not manage “to cause any human casualties or material damage”.
CNNÂ’s sources said the target might have been weapons coming into Syria or crossing the country from Iran. Recent months have seen repeated accusations from Israel, reported by the UN, that munitions have been flowing in large numbers across the Syrian border into Lebanon in order to rearm Palestinian militia and the Iranian-backed Hizbollah movement.
An uneasy peace has endured since the deployment of UN peacekeepers to southern Lebanon, but the situation remains tense. Syria has also seen a marked deterioration over recent weeks in relations with Saudi Arabia.
A scheduled visit by Walid al-Moualem, Syria’s foreign minister, to Saudi Arabia was cancelled on Tuesday, Reuters reported, casting doubts on the possibility of a reconciliation. Mr Ban limited himself on Tuesday to an expression of concern “at reported violations of Syrian airspace by Israeli aircraft”.