Russia Condemns Israeli Syria Strikes as Tel Aviv Implicitly Admits Them

People inspect the damage at the Citadel of Damascus in the aftermath of what state media said were Israeli air strikes (Reuters)
People inspect the damage at the Citadel of Damascus in the aftermath of what state media said were Israeli air strikes (Reuters)
TT

Russia Condemns Israeli Syria Strikes as Tel Aviv Implicitly Admits Them

People inspect the damage at the Citadel of Damascus in the aftermath of what state media said were Israeli air strikes (Reuters)
People inspect the damage at the Citadel of Damascus in the aftermath of what state media said were Israeli air strikes (Reuters)

The Russian Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the Israeli air strike on Damascus and its environs, saying it was a "flagrant violation" of international law.

Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russia "urges Israel to stop armed provocations against the Syrian Arab Republic and refrain from steps fraught with dangerous consequences for the entire region."

According to Russian news agency Sputnik, Zakharova asserted that such vicious practices were completely unacceptable when Russia and other countries sent rescuers, health workers, and humanitarian assistance to Syria in the wake of devastating earthquakes that rocked the Arab country early last week.

Tel Aviv did not issue an official response. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted that the raid was a response to the Iranian drone attack on an oil tanker owned by Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer in the Gulf waters a week ago.

"We will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons, and we will not allow it to entrench on our northern border," Netanyahu told Sunday's cabinet meeting.

Political sources in Tel Aviv claimed that the Syrian anti-aircraft system launched the missiles at the Israeli rockets to destroy them, which killed several citizens.

The military expert at the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Ron Ben-Yishai, said that the Israeli raid was in response to Iran's bombing of the ship.

He explained that it comes within the new policy established by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Mossad chief David Barnea, and National Security Council chief Eyal Hulata, which stipulated a war with Iran in all arenas, targeting its weak points.



Germany Hands Syrian Doctor Life for Torturing Assad Critics

Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)
Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)
TT

Germany Hands Syrian Doctor Life for Torturing Assad Critics

Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)
Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)

A Syrian doctor who had practiced in Germany was sentenced to life in prison by a German court on Monday for crimes against humanity and war crimes after he was found guilty of torturing dissidents in Syria.

The 40-year-old, identified only as Alaa M. in accordance with German privacy laws, was found guilty of killing two people and torturing another eight during his time working in Syria as a doctor at a military hospital and detention center in Homs in 2011 and 2012.

The court said his crimes were part of a systematic attack against people protesting against then-President Bashar al-Assad that precipitated the country's civil war.

Assad was toppled in December. His government denied it tortured prisoners.

Alaa M. arrived in Germany in 2015, after fleeing to Germany among a large influx of Syrian refugees, and became one of roughly 10,000 Syrian medics who helped ease acute staff shortages in the country's healthcare system.

He was arrested in June 2020, and was handed a life sentence without parole, the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt said in a statement.

The defendant had pleaded not guilty, saying he was the target of a conspiracy.

German prosecutors have used universal jurisdiction laws that allow them to seek trials for suspects in crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world.

They have targeted several former Syrian officials in similar cases in recent years.

The plaintiffs were supported by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights.

ECCHR lawyer Patrick Kroker called Monday's ruling "a further step towards a comprehensive reckoning with Assad's crimes".

Judges found that the doctor caused "considerable physical suffering" as a result of the torture inflicted on his victims, which included serious beatings, mistreating wounds and inflicting serious injury to the genitals of two prisoners, one of whom was a teenage boy.

Two patients died after he gave them lethal medication, the court statement said.

Monday's ruling can be appealed.