Military actions spreading in Middle East, Kremlin says

Military actions are spreading to a broader region in the Middle East, the Kremlin warned Tuesday, as the Israeli army announced that it had launched a ground operation in southern Lebanon, Anadolu Agency reports.

“We are seeing together that the geography of military actions is expanding. This all leads to further destabilisation of the region and escalation of tension,” Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters in Moscow.

Describing the tensions as “extremely destructive” for the entire Middle East and surrounding regions, Peskov said Russia remains deeply concerned in this regard.

Since 23 September, Israel has launched massive air strikes against what it calls Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, killing more than 1,057 people and injuring over 2,950 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Several Hezbollah leaders have been killed in the assault, including the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 41,600 people, most of them women and children, following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group, Hamas, last October.

The international community has warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a wider regional war.

Russia condemns Israeli strikes on Syrian capital

Peskov also said that Russia condemned Israeli strikes in the Syrian capital, Damascus, earlier in the day, which killed at least three people and injured nine others, according to the Syrian State News Agency.

“Of course, we are in constant contact with our Syrian friends. We do not see any immediate risks now, but, of course, we condemn such strikes against a sovereign state,” he said.

The Syrian News Agency previously reported that Syrian air defences intercepted hostile targets in the skies over Damascus three times that night.

Israel has not commented on the air strikes.

Israel has been conducting air strikes in Syria since 2011 against government forces, Iranian troops and Hezbollah targets.

READ: Israel strikes three anti-aircraft radar stations in southern Syria, sources say