Palestinian supporters of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PLFP) wave the group’s red flag, the Syrian flag, and hold posters of Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, during a rally, yesterday.
JERUSALEM: Israel is not getting involved in Syria’s civil war, Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said yesterday, while insisting the Jewish state would not permit the transfer of arms to Damascus ally Hezbollah in neighbouring Lebanon.
Yaalon was speaking just days after two Israeli air strikes near Damascus sent regional tensions soaring and as the United Nations protested about Israel warplanes overflying Lebanon.
The raids struck several military targets in the early hours of Friday and Sunday and may have been carried out by Israeli warplanes from Lebanese air space.
A senior Israeli source said they destroyed Iranian missiles en route to Hezbollah.
On Monday, an official in Damascus warned that “Syria will respond to the Israeli aggression and will choose the moment to do so.”
“It might not be immediate because Israel now is on high alert,” he added. “We will wait but we will answer.”
Israel routinely refuses to relate to such reports, with Yaalon’s remarks the first official comment, albeit indirect, on the strikes. AFP
