TEL AVIV – Israeli warplanes on Sunday targeted “empty hangers” and “civilian merchandise” and not military installations or weapons caches, according to a top official in Syria’s Ministry of Information.
The official, who spoke to WND from Damascus, claimed Sunday’s Israeli air strikes were likely symbolic gestures of support by the Jewish state for the rebels following rebel setbacks in recent days.
The official claimed there were no casualties in the air strikes, which he said were carried out by pilotless drones.
The Israeli government has not responded to Syrian reports that Israeli planes bombed targets near Damascus International Airport and in the town of Dimas, north of Damascus and near the border with Lebanon.
The Syrian Ministry of Information official told WND the Syrian army in recent days stopped a counterattack led by the Free Syrian Army and Al Nusra Front in the regions close to the Syrian-Turkish border.
The official pointed to a report by United Nations observers in the Golan Heights that documented numerous interactions between Israeli troops and rebel groups on the Israel-Syrian border over the past year and a half, alleging Israeli support for the Syrian rebels.
The official claimed Sunday’s Israeli strikes were simply meant to boost rebel morale and were not strategic.
“The message with these strikes from Israel to the rebels is that ‘We are still with you, supporting you. We will not let the Syrian regime complete its campaign to take all regions occupied by the rebels,'” the official told WND.
Regarding the alleged Israeli-rebel cooperation, the U.N. report documented that during periods of heavy engagement with Syrian forces, “[rebel groups] transferred 89 wounded persons across the ceasefire line to the IDF,” adding the “the IDF handed 19 treated and two deceased individuals” back to the insurgents.
In May 2014, U.N. monitors wrote they observed IDF troops “handing over two boxes to armed members of the opposition” on the Syrian side.
