Russia is demanding that Israel explain why it conducted two air strikes on Syria on Sunday, and Syrian and Iranian diplomats have called the attacks "an act of aggression," reported The Associated Press.
The strikes occurred near Damascus International Airport and outside of a town close to the Lebanese border, and reportedly targeted Iranian-made missiles.
"Moscow is deeply concerned about this dangerous development which requires a detailed investigation," said Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich, adding that the use of force is "unacceptable in international relations and deserves an outright condemnation."
Russia complained about Israel's "aggressive action" in a letter to the United Nations, and demanded that additional attacks should not be encouraged, according to Lukashevich.
Syria also complained to the U.N. about the strikes, asking for the Security Council to "severely condemn the Israeli attack and impose punitive sanctions on Israel due to its support of Syrian terrorist organizations," reported Haaretz.
Syrian activists said the attacks hit weapon depots, but Israel has not yet confirmed or denied the strikes. Previous Israeli attacks targeted Iranian-made shipments of Fateh-110 missiles heading for the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group, reported AP.
According to the DPA news agency, Sunday's strikes targeted a Damascus airport warehouse storing Iranian-made weapons bound for Hezbollah, Haaretz reported. A Syrian military source confirmed that missiles were indeed destroyed during the strikes, but didn't provide details on their origin or destination.
Two Hezbollah militants reportedly died in the strike, according to Al-Arabiya.
"We have a very potent defense policy that is oriented toward safeguarding the country and wherever possible preventing the upgrading of weaponry that gives terrorist organizations game-changers or unusually sophisticated means of attack," Israeli Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz told Israeli Radio on Monday.
During a joint news conference on Monday between Iranian and Syrian officials, the countries claimed that Israel was attempting to compensate for losses incurred by Islamic extremist groups in Syria, and said that the Israeli strikes prove Israel is "in the same trench" with extremists groups fighting to overthrow the Syrian government, Haaretz reported.
