Alleged IAF airstrike
Photo: AP
'Brave army capable of dealing with Israel'
Photo: Reuters
Assad: Syrian people, army capable of dealing with Israel
Syrian president responds to alleged Israeli attacks in Syria for first time; Iranian FM, who met with Assad, promises: 'We are with you, won't let Syria fall into Israeli hands'
The Syrian president could no longer ignore the alleged Israeli strike not far from his capital: In his first response to the alleged IAF airstrikes
near Damascus, Syrian President Bashar Assad
said Tuesday that "the latest Israeli assault reveals the level of involvement the Israeli occupier, Western countries and their supports have in the events in Syria."
Assad spoke during a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, and said "the Syrian people and its brave army, which have registered important victories in its battle against the terrorist and infidel gangs, are fully capable of dealing with Israel's adventurism."
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The official Syrian news agency further reported that Assad said that "such adventures represent one of the terrorist strains currently harming the Syrian people on a daily basis."
According to international media and reports by Damascus, during 48-hours last weekend, Israel attacked two targets in Syria in two different strikes.
The first attack, it was reported, took place during the night between Thursday and Friday, and the second one took place between Saturday and Sunday. According to reports, the attack's targets included a "game-changing" arms shipment to Hezbollah.
The Hezbollah affiliated Lebanese news network, Al-Mayadeen, reported that Assad told the Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi that "the Golan will become the frontline for resistance," to which Salehi answered: "We are with you and we will not allow Syria to fall into the hands of Israel, the US or any infidel."
Salehi added that "the time has come to deter the Israeli occupier from attacking the region's peoples."
A senior Syrian official threatened earlier Tuesday that any Israeli vehicle that will evacuate wounded Syrians from the Golan will be fired on.
The same source, quoted in Al-Mayadeen, noted that every vehicle or field hospital is a possible target for the Syrian army: "Firstly because this is a breach of sovereignty. Secondly, because anyone aiding terrorists is a terrorist himself."
Meanwhile, Hezbollah and Syrian regime affiliated Al-Mayadeen further reported that the four Filipino UN peacekeepers were kidnapped by rebel forces.
The main rebel force active in the region, The Yarmouk Martyrs, said they "carried out an operation to secure and protect elements of the United Nations operating in the Yarmouk Valley," fearing for their lives "during clashes and heavy shelling in the region".
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