Israel ready to bomb Iranian aid deliveries to Syria: Report
The Cradle, February 10, 2023 — The warning comes mere weeks after Israeli drones bombed several food trucks crossing from Iraq into Syria.
An unnamed Israeli military official told Saudi Arabia’s Elaph newspaper on 9 February that Tel Aviv will not hesitate to bomb Iranian aid deliveries for disaster-struck Syria under claims that Tehran seeks to “take advantage of the tragic situation … to send weapons and equipment to Hezbollah.”
The anonymous official added Israel has “intelligence” to back up their claims, as the Israeli army has “intensified its monitoring by air, land, and sea of everything that Iran is transporting to Syria.”
Iran has been one of the leading countries providing humanitarian assistance to Syria since a 7.8 magnitude earthquake devastated the country’s northwest region.
As of Friday morning, the death toll from the quake in Syria had surpassed 3,300 people.
As a result of western sanctions, aid deliveries for Syria have been largely hindered compared to the flow of aid entering neighboring Turkiye, forcing Damascus to rely on allied nations like Russia and Iran to assist survivors.
Israel’s newest threat comes just two weeks after its drones bombed three Iranian food trucks loaded with flour and rice as they headed from Iraq into Syria.
The trucks were attempting to legally enter Syria through the Al-Bukamal border crossing days after it was opened for commercial trucks for the first time since 2019.
Israel has previously prevented aid from arriving in Syria by bombing the country’s airports, using similar claims of “weapons deliveries” from Iran.
In September of last year, the UN Syria Commission decried Israeli airstrikes on Damascus International Airport “made it impossible” for the UN to deliver humanitarian aid to Syrians in need.
The attack on 10 June severely damaged the two runways at Syria’s main joint-use airport, crippling civilian air traffic in and out of the country. The statement came just days after Israel bombed Aleppo International Airport twice in the same week.
Israel regularly carries out illegal airstrikes inside Syria on what it claims to be Iranian or Hezbollah targets.