A heavy machine operates at the tarmac of Damascus International Airport, Syria, in this handout released by SANA on June 12, 2022. ((SANA/Handout via REUTERS)
An Israeli strike that damaged the Damascus International Airport in June made it impossible for the United Nations to fly in aid deliveries to needy Syrians for around two weeks, said the UN's Syria commission on Wednesday.
Commissioner Lynn Welchmann told reporters in Geneva that the Israeli strike "led to considerable damage to infrastructure and the closure of the airport for nearly two weeks or 13 days."
That "meant the suspension of UN deliveries of humanitarian assistance which is extremely serious," she said.
Israel has intensified strikes on Syrian airports, claiming to disrupt Iran's increasing use of aerial supply lines to deliver arms to allies in Syria and Lebanon, including Hezbollah, regional diplomatic and intelligence sources told Reuters.
Lebanon's Foreign Affairs Ministry condemned the "repeated Israeli attacks" on the airports of Damascus and Aleppo as "a violation of sovereignty and a direct threat to international peace."
Reporting by Maya Gebeily
Editing by Tomasz Janowski