Russia on Friday issued a rare condemnation of Israel for an overnight air strike in Syria attributed to the Jewish state which significantly damaged Damascus International Airport.
"In the early morning hours of June 10, the Israeli Air Force again attacked the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic. The target of the attack was Damascus International Airport. According to information that was received, serious material damage was caused to the airport," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement quoted by Maariv.
"We are forced to emphasize that the ongoing Israeli shelling of Syrian territory, in violation of the basic norms of international law, is unacceptable. We strongly condemn Israel's provocative attack on critical Syrian civilian infrastructure. Such irresponsible actions pose serious risks to international air traffic and endanger the lives of innocent people. We demand that the Israeli side stop this evil practice,” the statement added.
Satellite images published earlier by Israeli company ImageSat International (ISI) show the damage that was caused to Damascus International Airport following the overnight air strike which Syria attributed to Israel.
The images show significant damage to the runways. ISI said the strikes “completely disabled” operations at both the airport’s runways, with each runway appearing to have been struck three times.
Following the air strike, Syria’s Transportation Ministry announced it had suspended incoming and outgoing flights at the airport for 48 hours, citing technical disruptions. READ MORE