Assad Says Israeli Airstrikes Weaken Syrian Army, Back Local Rebel Groups

Syrian president Bashar Assad says Israel supports rebel groups in Syria by conducting airstrikes in places, where the Syrian army makes advances.

MOSCOW, January 26 (Sputnik) — Israel is providing support to rebel groups operating inside Syria by conducting airstrikes in places where the Syrian army is making advances, Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an exclusive interview with Foreign Affairs published on Monday.

"They [the Israelis] are supporting the rebels in Syria. It’s very clear. Because whenever we make advances in some place, they [the Israelis] make an attack in order to undermine the army," Assad said. "That’s why some in Syria joke: “How can you say that al Qaeda doesn’t have an air force? They have the Israeli air force.”

The comments come a week after a missile attack, presumed to have been carried out by Israel, in the region of Quneitra in the Syrian Golan Heights bordering Lebanon.

The attack reportedly claimed the lives of six members of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah. A senior commander from Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) was the seventh victim, according to Press TV.

However, Israel has not confirmed its involvement in the incident.

The Lebanon-based Hezbollah has been allegedly helping the Syrian government fight the Islamic State and radical Sunni militants.

Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shiite Islamist political party and militant group established in 1985. It is considered a terrorist organization by Israel and a number of Western countries.