Russian envoy: Israeli airstrikes in Syria green-lit by US, expose West’s hypocrisy

Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzia has strongly condemned the relentless Israeli airstrikes inside Syria, saying the strikes expose the West’s hypocrisy when it comes to human rights.

Nebenzia told a UN Security Council meeting on Monday that Israel carried out repetitive airstrikes, including those on Damascus airport in June, only after receiving the green light from Washington.

“We strongly condemn the continuing airstrikes of the Israeli Air Force on various targets in Syria,” he said.

He also noted that establishing long-term stability and security in Syria is possible only through “full restoration of the sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of Syria and the cessation of illegal foreign military presence.”

On the same note, Russia’s Sputnik news quoted Nebenzia as saying, “We would like to note the importance of the Astana format, which has confirmed its role as the most effective international mechanism to assist in achieving long-term normalization in Syria. Before the end of the year, we hope to conduct another meeting in the city of Nur-Sultan (formerly called Astana).”

Iran and Russia, as the allies of the Syrian government, as well as Turkey, which sides with the opposition, set up the Astana peace process in January 2017 with the aim of putting an end to the Syrian conflict through the involvement of the Syrian government and the opposition.

The 18th round of the Astana talks was held in June, when the participants expressed their firm opposition to Israeli’s aggression and atrocities in the war-torn country.

Israeli airstrikes in Syria aimed at further destabilizing country: Analyst

Director of the Centre for Counter Hegemonic Studies, Tim Anderson, explains why Israel keeps targeting Syrian territory with airstrikes.

Syria and the Israeli regime are technically at war due to the latter’s 1967-to-present occupation of Syria’s Golan Heights. Israel maintains a significant military presence in the territory, which it uses as one of its launchpads for attacks on Syrian soil.

The regime’s airstrikes inside Syria started to grow significantly in scale and frequency after 2011, when the Arab country found itself in the grip of rampant foreign-backed militancy and terrorism.

On Saturday, Syria called on the United Nations and the world body’s Security Council to condemn in clear and explicit terms the Israeli regime’s recurrent and often deadly aggression against the country’s territory.

The most recent Israeli attack against Syrian soil took place over Tartus on August 4, killing three servicemen and wounding three others.

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