Israeli shelling strickes town south of Damascus
February 17, 2022, 6:33 am

Israeli shelling strickes town south of Damascus

Syria-destructive war

The Asharq Al-Awsat reported, according to Syrian state media, Israeli shelling struck a town south of Damascus on Wednesday evening, causing material damage.

This is the second Israeli aerial strike on Syria this month, after Israel targeted anti-aircraft batteries on February 9 in response to a missile fired from Syria.

SANA said, citing a military source: "The Israeli enemy carried out a strike with several surface-to-surface missiles" from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, targeting the town of Zakiya at around 11:35 pm (21:35 GMT).

A war monitor said the target of Wednesday's shelling was a Syrian army post.

Syria fires anti-aircraft missile toward Israel during reported Israeli strike

Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP: "The shelling targeted a regime military post."

Source: aawsat

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.