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Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry issues statement condemning Israeli airstrike on Syrian port


Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry issues statement condemning Israeli airstrike on Syrian port

Firefighters attempt to put out a fire in the port of Latakia overnight Monday. (Credit: SANA/Handout via Reuters)

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry condemned Tuesday Israeli airstrikes on the Syrian port of Latakia, the second such attack in this month.

Here’s what we know:

    • The Foreign Affairs Ministry “strongly condemns Israeli aggression on the port of Latakia,” the statement issued by the ministry reads. “Such an attack during the holiday season, the second of its kind carried out in less than a month, shows the true face” of the Israeli state, the statement adds, expressing “solidarity” with Syria and its people.

    • Monday evening's strikes on the country's main commercial port, which is controlled by the Syrian government, caused fires and significant damage. According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the targeted containers were filled with “weapons and ammunition.” However, it was “not clear” whether these came from Iran, a Syrian regime ally.

    • The official Syrian news agency Sana, for its part, reported that these containers were filled with “oil and spare parts for cars and other vehicles.”

    • An Israeli airstrike on Dec. 7 struck what the Observatory reported was a shipment of Iranian weapons in the port of Latakia. Since the beginning of the war in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes at the country, sometimes from Lebanese airspace, targeting army positions as well as Iran-backed forces and Hezbollah fighters.

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry condemned Tuesday Israeli airstrikes on the Syrian port of Latakia, the second such attack in this month.Here’s what we know:    • The Foreign Affairs Ministry “strongly condemns Israeli aggression on the port of Latakia,” the statement issued by the ministry reads. “Such an attack during the holiday season, the second of its kind...