Palestinian resistance groups slam Israeli attack on Damascus suburbs

Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou condemned the attack, saying the aggression exhibited the unlawfulness of Israel, and stressed the need for decisive and necessary steps to prevent recurrence of such assaults.

Daoud Shihab, a spokesman for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad resistance movement, also said, “We support any decision by Syria to respond to the Zionist regime's aggression on Damascus.”

Separately, Yemeni Ambassador to Damascus Abdullah Ali Sabri expressed his country's full solidarity with Syria in the face of recurrent Israeli attacks, denouncing the latest missile strikes as blatant violation of the country’s sovereignty and international law.

“We condemn the brutal attack amid the complicity of the international community, and affirm Syria’s legitimate right to respond,” he pointed out.

Early on Wednesday, Syrian air defense units managed to intercept and bring down separate barrages of missiles launched by the Israeli military at various targets in the vicinity of Damascus.

Syria’s official news agency SANA, citing a military source, reported that several Israeli missiles were fired from the direction of the Lebanese capital city of Beirut at some targets near Damascus at 00:56 a.m. (2256 GMT Tuesday).

The source added that the second attack was carried at about 1:10 a.m. as a number of Israeli surface-to-ground missiles coming from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights struck some sites near Damascus.

“Our aerial defenses confronted the enemy's missiles and shot some of them down,” the source noted.

SANA said one soldier was killed and five others wounded as a result of the attacks. The strikes caused some “material damage” as well.

Moreover, Russian Ambassador to Syria Aleksandr Yefimov has condemned the latest Israeli aggression on areas near Damascus.

“Russia strongly condemns Israeli strikes on Syria and demands an end to them,” Yefimov told the Arabic service of Russia’s Sputnik news agency.

He added, “Israeli strikes on Syrian territories are highly illegal under the international law.”

“Such attacks cause casualties in addition to serious material damage. They violate the sovereignty of states, pose a threat to international civil air traffic and further deteriorate the volatile military and political status quo in the region,” Yefimov pointed out.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups that are wreaking havoc in the country.

Israel frequently targets military positions inside Syria, especially those of the resistance movement Hezbollah which has played a key role in helping the Syrian army in its fight against the foreign-backed terrorists.

The Tel Aviv regime mostly keeps quiet about its attacks on Syrian territories which many view as a knee-jerk reaction to the Syrian government’s increasing success in confronting terrorism.

Israel has been a key supporter of terrorist groups that have opposed the government of President Bashar al-Assad since the foreign-backed militancy erupted in Syria.