New York - Syria accused Israel Tuesday of violating its airspace and dropping "some munitions" without causing human casualties or property damage, warning that it could lead to uncontrollable "serious consequences."A protest note from Syrian UN Ambassador Bashir Jafaari to the UN Security Council and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, which was translated into English from Arabic, branded the Israeli overflights an act of "aggression."
The note said on September 6, Israeli aircraft breached Syrian airspace after midnight, broke the sound barrier and dropped the unspecified munitions before they returned to Israel. It said Israel had violated Syrian airspace in the past.
It called the overflights a "new and dangerous escalation" of the situation in the region and a violation of international law.
"In warning the Israeli government of the consequences of such blatant aggression, Syria emphasizes that if the international community persists in disregarding these Israeli actions in breach of international law, that is likely to subject the region and international peace and security to serious consequences that may be difficult to control," the note said.
It said Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity while claiming its desire for peace in the Middle East.
There was no immediate reaction from Israel or its mission to the United Nations in New York.
Syria last week claimed that Israel flew jets over its territory in past weeks and news reports said at one point that Israeli jetfighters were fired upon inside Syrian airspace. But the reports were not confirmed.
Israel said last week it had no knowledge of the incident or incidents, but has yet to issue an official reaction to the charges.
The developments come amidst widespread worry about a war erupting this summer between Syria and Israel, with Israeli officials making a point of sending repeated reassuring messages to Damascus that it had no plans to attack.
Large-scale military exercises conducted by the Jewish state were aimed at implementing lessons from last summer's war with the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, the messages last week assured.
The Israeli military even said it would move training exercises held on the occupied Golan Heights to elsewhere in the country to lower the tensions.
Ban this week urged countries in the Middle East to show restraint.
"I would urge the Israeli authorities and all other authorities in the region to exercise maximum restraint in managing this already very fragile, uncertain security situation in the region," Ban said when asked about his reaction to the Syrian charges of Israeli overflights.
Ban said he was still waiting for "full clarifications" about the situation from the parties involved before making any decision.
