Israeli strikes

By Editorial Board
|
April 29, 2020

As the Covid-19 pandemic is raging across the world, there is a need for the world to unite and save humanity from this scourge. But sadly still there are countries such as Israel which keep indulging in a useless warfare across their borders and never hesitate to kill. The recent Israeli strikes that killed nine people in Syria are a stark reminder to the world that Israel is never short of excuses to hit and eliminate whoever it thinks is not on its side, be it Iranians, Palestinians, or Syrians. According to reports, this time around the excuse was that the victims were pro-Iranian militiamen. The reports have not confirmed the identities of all the victims and have just mentioned that the slain militiamen included three Syrian nationals and six foreigners of unknown nationalities.

Since Israel has one of the most advanced missile systems in the world, it is increasingly using its aerial prowess to pinpoint targets far away in other countries if it means some military dividends in the shape of killed enemy militiamen or soldiers. Normally Israel keeps an eye on Hezbollah or Palestinian fighters and strikes whenever and wherever it deems appropriate. In the past few years, Israel has carried out hundreds -- if not thousands -- of strikes in Syria especially targeting Syrian forces that it alleges are supported by the Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian allied militias.

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The recent strike was significant in that the same day Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was having a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. As the war in Syria has been going on for nearly a decade now, there is a need for the world community to restrain foreign countries, including Israel, so that the fate of the Syrian people can be decided by the Syrians alone. Bashar al-Assad would also do better by resorting to some peaceful means of negotiations to share power with the opposition. Some estimates put the number of people killed since 2010 at nearly half a million with several million more displaced. This is a staggering number by all counts and the war there must see an end now.

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