New Israeli bombing in central Damascus, UN warns of war in Gaza and Lebanon spreading to Syria

Official Syrian media sources reported that one person was killed in an Israeli bombardment that targeted a building in the vicinity of the Kafr Sousa area in central Damascus. At the same time, the UN Secretary-General's envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, warned of the possibility of the war in Gaza and Lebanon extending to Syria.

The Syrian news agency reported that an explosion was heard in the skies of the capital Damascus early Thursday morning, without providing further details. Meanwhile, Syrian state television said that the explosions heard in the skies of Damascus were the result of "Israeli aggression."

Last Monday, the Israeli army announced the killing of the head of Hezbollah's money transfer unit in a raid on Syria, while the Syrian Ministry of Defense confirmed the killing of two people and the injury of three others in targeting a car in the Mazzeh neighborhood in Damascus, while the party did not comment on the matter.

Over the past weeks, the Israeli army has targeted leaders of Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Damascus, in addition to targeting sites in central Syria and coastal cities, amid a ground incursion into Quneitra in the south.

Israel has been carrying out airstrikes on Syria for years, and has intensified those attacks since the start of its war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023. Tel Aviv rarely confirms carrying out the strikes, but it repeatedly says that it is confronting what it describes as Iran's attempts to establish a military presence in Syria.

Warning of the extension of the war in Gaza and Lebanon to Syria
The UN Secretary-General's envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, warned of the possibility of the war in Gaza and Lebanon spreading to Syria, and of the consequences of that, stressing the need to protect Syria from a regional conflict. He pointed out that "hundreds of thousands of Syrians and Lebanese have been forced to flee from Lebanon to Syria, which is already witnessing an escalating conflict." Pedersen's statements came during his monthly briefing to the UN Security Council on the situation in Syria.

Pedersen stopped at the Israeli air strikes last month on different areas of Syria, describing them as the most extensive, intense and severe in the past thirteen years. He added: “Dozens of locations were bombed across Syria, including residential areas, even in the heart of Damascus. In total, the Syrian government says that Israel has struck Syrian territory more than 116 times since October 7, 2023, killing more than a hundred people.”

The UN official said that the regional escalation "is dangerously galvanizing the conflict in northwestern Syria. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a terrorist organization listed by the Security Council, launched a major cross-line raid on government areas, along with reports of drone attacks from Idlib and continued artillery and rocket attacks."

He pointed out that the Israeli attacks on the road between Beirut and Damascus led to "impeding the arrival of civilians fleeing (the war in Lebanon), and also led to the strangulation of a vital trade artery between the two countries. We are now witnessing a decline in trade movement and a doubling of gasoline prices in Syria."

He warned of the dire consequences if all the elements are in place for a "military, humanitarian and economic storm to hit an already devastated Syria, with serious and unpredictable consequences for civilians and for international peace and security." He spoke of five urgent appeals through which he stressed "the need to protect Syria from regional conflict. It cannot become an open arena for all, where they settle their various scores or inflame other theaters, and it cannot become a launching pad for attacks or revenge."

He stressed the need for a regional calm, reiterating the UN Secretary-General’s call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon. He expressed grave concern about the possibility of further escalation between Israel and Iran, and its repercussions on Syria. He warned that the risk of regional escalation “could lead to the dismantling of the ceasefire agreements that, although incomplete, have provided a vital freeze on the front lines inside Syria for nearly four years.”

He stressed the need for further work to de-escalate tensions towards a nationwide ceasefire in line with resolution 2254. He stressed the need for “all actors, Syrian and international, including Israel, to comply with international humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution.”

Pedersen reminded the member states of the Council of "the importance of the presence of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, and I stress the need for both parties to abide by the terms of the Disengagement Agreement, as violating the agreement would increase tensions between the two parties and lead to further escalation of the situation in the region."

(Al Jazeera + Al-Araby Al-Jadeed)