Israel's Military Operations in Syria Draw Condemnation

The Israeli military has been conducting "operational raids" on Mount Hermon in Syria in recent weeks, continuing a military campaign on Syrian soil that is drawing increasing international condemnation. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based Syrian war monitor, reported airstrikes around the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Sunday, attributing them to the Israeli military. The strikes targeted an ammunitions warehouse used by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Israel claims its military operations in Syria are intended to "strengthen the defense of Israel's citizens." However, these actions have drawn accusations from the United Nations and some member states that Israel is violating a decades-long cease-fire by sending its troops within and beyond a buffer zone between the countries.

The raids come just days after Israel's foreign minister, Gideon Sa'ar, met with members of the U.N. peacekeeping mission on the border between Syria and Israel. The U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) was established by the Security Council in 1974 to maintain a cease-fire between Israeli and Syrian forces after a 1973 war and to supervise the buffer zone that agreement established.