Israel Threatens to Bomb Humanitarian Aid to Earthquake-Hit Syria
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - An unnamed Israeli military official has threatened to bomb Iran’s shipments of humanitarian aid to Syria, following a devastating earthquake in the Arab country's northwestern region.
The official, who spoke to Elaph online newspaper, claimed that Iran was seeking to take advantage of the tragedy to send weapons and equipment to the Lebanon-based resistance movement, Hezbollah.
The official also said that Israel has "intelligence" to back up the claim. Iran has been one of the leading countries providing aid to Syria since the earthquake.
This threat comes two weeks after Israeli drones targeted an Iranian convoy of over two dozen trucks carrying food from Iraq into Syria.
In December, Israel's former military chief of staff, Aviv Kochavi, confirmed that the regime was behind an attack on an Iranian fuel convoy heading to Lebanon near the Syria-Iraq border.
Syria has lodged complaints with the United Nations and other international bodies over the issue. Israel regularly carries out airstrikes in Syria, but it rarely comments on them.
Meanwhile, the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria says relevant international organizations are not helping Syrians affected by the devastating earthquake.
“We have to draw the international community’s attention to the fact that these institutions are dodging their responsibilities and do not render assistance to the Syrian victims of the earthquake,” the head of the center, Major General Oleg Yegorov, said on Friday.
“Under the UN mandate, humanitarian assistance reaches Syria via a cross-border corridor near the Bab al-Hawa checkpoint in Idlib province into territories that are not controlled by the Syrian government. This is while the bulk of the population in other Syrian regions continues to suffer as a result of Western sanctions,” he added.
“Despite the existing logistical difficulties, the Syrian government continues to distribute humanitarian aid convoys which arrive at the seaports of Latakia and Tartus among locals of quake-devastated areas,” Yegorov stressed.
As rescue efforts continue in Syria following the massive earthquakes, calls are growing for the US and its allies to remove all their sanctions.