2023-10-31 07:08:02
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The war between Israel and Hamas is spreading to Syria, fueled by growing instability, violence and a lack of progress toward a political solution to their 12-year conflict, the United Nations special envoy said Monday. United for the country.
Speaking before the Security Council, Geir Pedersen stated that, in addition to the violence arising from the Syrian conflict, the population now faces “the terrifying prospect of a possible broader escalation” following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 and the Israeli military response.
“The spread to Syria is not just a risk: it has already begun,” said the UN envoy for Syria.
Pedersen pointed to airstrikes attributed to Israel on Aleppo and Damascus airports on several occasions and the US response to what it claims were multiple attacks on its forces “by groups that claim to be supported by Iran, including on Syrian soil.”
With the region “at its most dangerous and tense (moment),” he noted, “gasoline is being poured into a powder keg that was already beginning to catch fire” in Syria, where violence had increased even before October 7.
Pedersen said the number of Syrians killed, wounded and displaced is at its highest since 2020 and pointed to a significant escalation of attacks in government-held areas, including an attack on a graduation ceremony at a military academy in Homs, which has not been claimed by anyone but which the authorities attribute to terrorist organizations.
The envoy also reported government shell attacks on Hayat Tahrir al Sham — the insurgent group that rules much of rebel-held northwest Syria — during the month of October, as well as a significant increase in Turkish attacks in the northeast following an attack on government facilities in Ankara. The Turkish offensive has left dozens dead, damaged health facilities, schools and camps, and displaced more than 120,000 civilians, he added.
The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, accused “terrorist groups”, some of them backed by Syria and Iran, of threatening to expand the Gaza conflict “by using Syrian territory to devise and launch attacks once morest Israel.” “In addition, he accused Damascus of allowing Tehran and terrorist groups to use its international airports for military purposes.
The representative of Russia, Vassily Nebenzia, who is Syria’s closest ally, accused Israeli forces of attacking places in Syrian territory, including civilian airports, and called the US attacks in the country “illegitimate actions” and a ” flagrant violation of the sovereignty” of Damascus. The ambassador pointed out that Washington’s economic interests and its involvement “in the smuggling of Syrian grain and oil” have prevailed over political interests.
For his part, Iran’s ambassador, Amir Iravani, rejected all US accusations, alleging that his country is in Syria at the request of Damascus to fight terrorism and accused Washington of trying to “shift the blame from the guilty to the victim.” Iravani stated, however, that Tehran will respond to any threat, attack or aggression that endangers its security.
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