Key points
- EU foreign policy chief visits Jerusalem
- Warns Israeli strikes threaten to worsen situation
- We feel that these things are unnecessary: Kallas
ISLAMABAD: The Israeli army said Tuesday that it had again struck two military bases in central Syria, a day after the European Union’s foreign policy chief warned strikes there and in Lebanon risked escalation.
“A short while ago, the IDF struck military capabilities that remained at the Syrian military bases of Tadmur and T4,” the Israeli military said, referring to bases in Palmyra and another 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of the city.
“The IDF will continue to act in order to remove any threat posed to the citizens of the State of Israel,” it added.
Israel said Friday it struck the same bases after a war monitor first reported the raids, AFP reported.
On Monday during a visit to Jerusalem, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned that Israeli strikes on Syria and Lebanon were threatening to worsen the situation.
“Military actions must be proportionate, and Israeli strikes into Syria and Lebanon risk further escalation,” Kallas said at a joint news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.
“We feel that these things are unnecessary because Syria is right now not attacking Israel and that feeds more radicalisation that is also against Israel,” Kallas told journalists.
Military actions must be proportionate, and Israeli strikes into Syria and Lebanon risk further escalation.” – EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas
In Syria, Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on military sites since Islamist-led rebels overthrew Bashar al-Assad in December.
Israel says it wants to prevent weapons from falling into the hands of new authorities it considers jihadists.
And despite a ceasefire, Israel has continued to carry out strikes on Lebanon — with both sides repeatedly accusing the other of violating the truce.
Israel launched air strikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday, killing eight people, in response to rocket fire that hit its territory for the first time since a ceasefire took effect on November 27.
No party has claimed responsibility for the rocket fire.
Buffer zone
The Israeli military has also deployed to the UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded the demilitarisation of southern Syria.
Syria’s foreign ministry has accused Israel of waging a campaign against “the stability of the country”.
When asked about Israel’s stance towards Syria’s new leaders, Kallas said: “Of course our worries are the same. They say the right things, will they do the right things?”
“But we have discussed this in the European Union and amongst all the member states, and our view is that we need a stable Syria,” she added.
Air strikes on Lebanon
Israel carried out multiple air strikes on Lebanon on Saturday.
The Israeli military said it had “hit dozens of rocket launchers” and a “command centre belonging to Hezbollah.”
Seven people, including a child, were killed and 40 injured in the air strikes, BBC reported.
Hours after the first set of strikes, a second wave of attacks were carried out at night on targets that included what the Israeli military described as command centres, infrastructure sites and a weapons storage facility in Lebanon.
