Syria calls on U.N. Security Council to condemn Israeli strikes

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's Foreign Ministry on Thursday called on the United Nations Security Council to condemn Israel's attacks on Syria after an Israeli strike late on Wednesday. The Foreign Ministry asked the Security Council to take "strict and immediate" measures to stop such Israeli attacks, in a statement carried on the state-run SANA news agency. Wednesday's strike hit a copper factory in the industrial town of Hisya, 35 km (21 miles) south of Homs and 112 km north of Damascus, SANA reported. In Jerusalem, Israel's Foreign Ministry declined to comment. On Wednesday, Israel's Channel 10 said the aircraft were not hit and returned safely to base. The Israeli air force says it has struck arms convoys of the Syrian military and its Lebanese ally, the Iran-backed Hezbollah, nearly 100 times in recent years. Israeli officials have expressed alarm at Iranian influence in Syria, where Iran-backed groups have played a critical role fighting in support of President Bashar al-Assad during the conflict that erupted in 2011. (Reporting by Sarah Dadouch; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Angus McDowall and William Maclean)