The Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic condemned Israel for its bombing of Iranian targets on Syrian soil and urged the international community in general and the members of the Security Council in particular to respond with resolve against – what he defined as: “Israel’s aggression.” Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari further warned the powerful body that unless the Security Council would act against Israel, Damascus will be forced to exercise its right for self-defense and respond militarily against Israel. Ja’afari said, “Isn’t it high time for this council to take the necessary measures to stop the repeated Israeli aggression against the territories of my country? Or, should we attract the attention of the war makers in this council by exercising our legitimate right for self-defense and respond to the Israeli aggression against the Damascus international civil airport by launching an aggression against Tel-Aviv airport?” The extent of the damage cause by the Israeli attack earlier this week is slowly unveiling. According to a report that was verified by TV7, the massive IDF bombardment of Iranian targets over the weekend caused the most extensive damage to date to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s storehouses and military installations in the war-torn-country, ever since Israel first began to attack. The large number of casualties and the extensive scope of damage were the result of three separate waves of IAF attacks. According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the number of people who were killed in the Israeli bombardment has risen to at least 21. Fifteen of the dead are reportedly not Syrians. Based on circulating information, which could not be verified by TV7, 12 of them were members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and six of the dead are members of the Syrian army and regime.
Following the Security Council meeting on escalation in Syria, Israel’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations underscored Jerusalem’s resolve to thwart the Islamic Republic from entrenching militarily along the northern border of the Jewish state. Danny Danon, the Israeli Ambassador to the U.N., stated: “When we look at the border with Israel, we care about the presence (of) the Iranians on the Golan Heights. (On) the border with Lebanon. And we are determined to block them. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said very directly, we will not sit idly by and allow the Iranians to build their bases and hubs in Syria.”