Jordan condemns Israeli strike near Syria's presidential palace

Amman, May 3 (IANS) Jordan has strongly condemned an earlier Israeli strike near the presidential palace in Syria's capital Damascus, as well as Israel's continued assaults on Syria's territory.

The strike near the presidential palace blatantly violates international law, clearly infringes on Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and fuels regional tension, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sufian Qudah said on Friday in a statement.

He added that Israel's continued attacks on Syria represented a clear violation of the Agreement on Disengagement between Israel and Syria signed in 1974, and a direct attack on the sovereignty of an Arab state, Xinhua news agency reported.

He reaffirmed Jordan's full support for and solidarity with Syria, and urged the international community to compel Israel to cease its "provocative and illegal aggressions" against Syria and to end its occupation of parts of Syria's territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed in a joint statement earlier on Friday that Israel attacked overnight near the presidential palace in Damascus.

The strike followed the deadly clashes that intensified earlier this week between local Druze fighters and pro-government forces south of Damascus, which, according to the war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, have claimed more than 100 lives.

The Israeli statement called the strike "a clear message to the Syrian regime," saying that Israel "will not allow the move of forces south of Damascus and any danger to the Druze community".

In response, the office of the Syrian leader strongly condemned the strike, noting that Syria will defend the rights of its people "through all available means".

Israel has attacked hundreds of military sites since Islamist-led forces deposed longtime Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December last year.

It has also sent troops into the demilitarised buffer zone that used to separate Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights.

On Wednesday, Israel launched strikes near Damascus and threatened more if violence against the Druze continued.

Syria's new Islamist authorities have vowed inclusive rule in the multi-confessional, multi-ethnic country, but must also contend with internal pressures from radical Islamists.

On Friday, Ahmed al-Sharaa met Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, who on Wednesday urged the minority community in Syria to reject "Israeli interference".

The latest violence follows massacres of Alawites in March, when the Observatory said the security forces and their allies killed more than 1,700 civilians.

It was the worst bloodshed since the overthrow of Assad, who is from the minority community.

The government accused Assad loyalists of sparking the violence, and launched an inquiry.

--IANS

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