Canadian embassy in Syria damaged in Israeli strike on Iranian embassy next door

Canadian officials are saying little publicly about the state of the Canadian Embassy in Damascus, Syria, a week after an Israeli bomb or missile demolished an Iranian Embassy annex next door.

A source at Global Affairs Canada (GAC) told CBC News that Canada's embassy building sustained damage in the April 1 airstrike, including the destruction of at least some of its windows. Officials have not yet been able to assess the building for structural damage.

The blast that destroyed the consular annex next door would have sent a powerful shockwave through the foundations of adjacent structures.

Global Affairs has declined to answer questions about whether the Israeli government warned Canada in advance of the strike on the Iranian Embassy annex.

The nearby Canadian embassy ceased operations in 2012 as the Syrian civil war worsened. GAC didn't say whether Israel checked with Canada to ensure that no Canadian personnel were on site when the airstrike hit.

Canadian diplomats and other personnel, including RCMP officers, have entered Syria on several occasions since the embassy was closed. It's not clear whether they used the embassy as a base of operations.

The GAC source told CBC News the embassy building remains the property of the Government of Canada.

The Canadian Embassy is two doors down from the large and ornate mission of the Islamic Republic on al-Farabi Street in the Mazzeh district, which houses many foreign embassies. Between the two buildings was a nondescript consular annex used by the Iranian government.

On the night of Monday, April 1, that annex was hosting a meeting of Iranian generals and senior officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. The death toll from the Israeli airstrike could not be independently