Israel has carried out attacks in Syria since the accidental shooting down of a Russian surveillance plane last month, a senior Israeli official said Monday.
The Sept. 17 downing by Syrian anti-aircraft fire, after Israeli jets attacked a suspected Iranian arms shipment to Syria, caused a diplomatic rift between Israel and Russia, where Moscow blamed Israel.
The Israeli official did not give details of the nature of Israel’s actions since the shooting down of the IL-20 aircraft near Latakia, in which the crew of 15 were killed, or the number of times it had attacked.
“The IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] have attacked in Syria, including after the downing of the Russian plane. Military coordination with the Russians continues as before,” said the senior official, who could not be named.
Israel’s Channel 1 television said one airstrike was aimed at an Iranian shipment for Hezbollah of equipment intended to increase the accuracy of their rockets and missiles.
Israel, which has carried out airstrikes in Syria many times during Syria’s 7-1/2-year-old civil war, said after the Sept. 17 incident it would work to improve “deconfliction” of its missions with Russian forces, but would not halt them. But since the Russian plane was shot down shortly after Israeli jets attacked a nearby target, there have been no reports of Israeli airstrikes in Syria.
The apparent pause raised speculation in the Israeli media that Israel was either holding back at Russia’s request or had paused the attacks over concern that they would fuel further tensions with Moscow.
In other developments, the Syrian opposition Monday presented a “road map” to peace, including steps to be taken ahead of an election and guidelines for a plan to write the country’s postwar constitution.
The document, drawn up by representatives of the opposition invited to Rome by the Catholic Sant’Egidio community, will be presented to key players in the conflict over the next few weeks.
The “road map,” presented by the High Negotiations Committee, the main opposition force, as well as several minor groups, details the shape a new government and Parliament could take.
It calls for the makeup of the committee to “reflect the composition of the country” and says all “arrangements/rules/law aiming at dissolving/obstructing/impeding the political activities of the opposition” must be scrapped.
The commission, within a nine-month time frame, should not only prepare the constitution but also draft party and electoral law.
A new transitional government should organize general and presidential elections through an election commission set up by the committee under the supervision of the U.N., it said.
It also called for a “general amnesty” and the “abolition of all laws, legislations and procedures aimed at prosecuting and punishing the participants of the events in Syria” since 2011, as well as the safe and voluntary return of refugees.
Meanwhile, U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Mark Lowcock, appealed to the Security Council Monday for continued aid deliveries to Syria’s civilian population across borders and through front lines, despite Russia’s growing opposition.
Lowcock urged the renewal for 12 months of U.N. resolutions authorizing the aid flows, insisting it was “of the highest importance.”
Moscow argues that cross-border deliveries of humanitarian aid are a violation of Syrian sovereignty.
The food aid is intended to free civilians trapped by war from reliance on either the government or rebels. The government claims, however, the aid supports “terrorists.”
Agencies
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