Syria warns Israeli strikes fuel tensions, demands UN action

Syrian Foreign Ministry on Saturday strongly condemned an Israeli drone strike on a civilian vehicle in the town of Beit Jinn west of Damascus, warning that persistent attacks fuel regional tensions and endanger civilian lives while demanding UN Security Council intervention. The strike injured several people, according to the ministry statement, though official media reported a single casualty.

In the statement issued by Damascus, the ministry described the assault as the latest in a series of repeated violations and held Israel “fully responsible” for the repercussions. “This attack constitutes a flagrant violation of Syrian sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as a blatant breach of international law,” the ministry said. It called on the international community and the Security Council “to shoulder their legal and political responsibilities, work to halt these attacks, and put an end to Israel's repeated violations of Syrian sovereignty,” according to SANA.

Pattern of escalation

The strike came days after Israeli warplanes conducted eight airstrikes on the Abu al-Duhur airbase in Idlib province, damaging infrastructure, according to the SANA news agency. The Israeli military claimed the individual targeted in the Beit Jinn drone strike posed “an immediate threat” to its forces operating in the area, though it provided no further details.

Israel has occupied most of Syria’s Golan Heights since 1967 and declared the 1974 disengagement agreement collapsed following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in late 2024. Israeli forces subsequently moved into the demilitarized buffer zone and other strategic positions including the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, expanding strikes across the country to target weapons depots and military installations.