The ancient castle of Damascus and the intermediate institutes of Applied Arts and Archaeology located inside it suffered considerable damage as a result of the attack, the head of the Department of Antiquities and Museums, Nazir Awad, asserted.

He added that these are purely educational institutions and the attacked site is a space for cultural and social activities and has no military significance whatsoever.

According to the director, the offices of the national project to restore the castle and the digital and paper archive of this program containing dozens of studies were also destroyed.

The aggression is unquestionable proof of Tel Aviv’s criminality and racism that attacks human lives, values, civilizations and cultures, Culture Minister Lubana Mashouh commented.

She called on Unesco and international organizations to mobilize world and Western public opinion to condemn this subversive, criminal action against human cultural assets.

In turn, the director of the Cultural Center in the Kafersoussa neighborhood, Elisa Kassah, said that the institution she directs suffered material damage.

The missile attack caused at least five dead and more than 15 wounded, some seriously injured.

Israel perpetrated during 2022 almost 40 war raids against Syria, some of them on civilian infrastructure facilities such as the Messiaf scientific research center, the international airports of Damascus and Aleppo, and the commercial port of Latakia.

Syria urged the UN Security Council to issue a public condemnation of the constant Israeli attacks and assured that these aggressions directly threaten regional and international peace and security.

mh/fm