Israeli strikes against southern Damascus. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — The Lebanese Foreign Ministry on Monday condemned Israeli strikes carried out against various targets in Syria, after an overflight of Lebanese airspace on Sunday night.
According to a statement from the Bustros Palace, the ministry "strongly condemned the latest Israeli aggression against Syria and the fact that the Israeli enemy used Lebanese airspace to bombard Syrian territory." It also warned against these "hostile behaviors and the continued violations of Lebanese sovereignty and international laws." The ministry's statement went on to announce that Lebanon will "file a complaint before the Security Council" of the UN and "ask it to intervene seriously to put an end to repeated Israeli aggressions."
Three Syrian soldiers were killed and three injured in Israeli strikes on Sunday, the official Syrian news agency Sana reported. Shortly before reporting the soliders' deaths, Sana had announced the interception by the Syrian air defense of "hostile missiles in the sky of Tartous and above the Qalamoun mountain range near the Lebanese border." Israel did not immediately react to the reports.
Since the start of the war in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in its neighbor, targeting Syrian army positions, Iranian forces and operations in Syrian by Lebanon-based Hezbollah. Some of these strikes were carried out from Lebanese airspace, which Israel regularly violates.
Lebanon has already lodged complaints several times against Israel at the UN, following f violations of this nature.