Lebanon condemns Israel strike on Syria, saying it violates Lebanese airspace

Lebanon has condemned an Israeli air strike on Syria, emphasising that it violated Lebanese airspace by doing so.

According to Syria’s military, the Israeli strike on the Shayrat Airbase in Homs province yesterday killed two soldiers and injured three. A warehouse for Iranian militias and Hezbollah were also destroyed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported.

In the statement by the Lebanese Foreign Ministry, the attack “caused many deaths and injuries, as well as material damage”. Stating that it was a clear breach of Lebanon’s air space, it also called it “a direct threat to the safety of civilian navigation”.

The statement stressed that “These attacks constitute a flagrant violation of international laws and conventions, as well as a violation of the sovereignty of Lebanon and its air space by Israeli warplanes”.

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Over the years, throughout the ongoing Syrian conflict and Iran’s intervention in support of the regime of Bashar Al-Assad, Israel has continuously conducted strikes on Syrian territory with the aim of combating the transfer of Iranian arms and presence of Iranian military sites in the country.

Those strikes have only escalated over the past year, with Tel Aviv saying it will continue to attack as long as it detects Iranian weapons transfers in Syria.

Last year, Lebanon filed an official complaint to the United Nations over Israel’s use of Lebanese airspace during the strikes.