Hatem Maher
(Reuters) – Syria's de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, said on Saturday that Israel is using false pretexts to justify its attacks on Syria, but he is not interested in entering into new conflicts as the country focuses on rebuilding after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad. The era of lion.
Al-Sharaa, known as Abu Muhammad al-Julani, leads Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, which ousted Assad from power last week, ending five decades of family rule.
Israel has since moved to a demilitarized zone inside Syria created after the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, including the Syrian side of the strategic Mount Hermon overlooking Damascus, where it seized an abandoned Syrian military site.
Israel, which has said it has no intention of staying there and describes the incursion into Syrian territory as a limited and temporary measure to ensure border security, has also carried out hundreds of strikes on Syrian strategic weapons stockpiles.
Several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Jordan, condemned what they described as Israel's seizure of a buffer zone in the Golan Heights.
Al-Sharaa said in an interview published on the Syrian TV website: “The Israeli arguments have become weak and no longer justify their recent violations. The Israelis have clearly crossed the lines of engagement in Syria, which constitutes a threat of unjustified escalation in the region.” A pro-opposition channel.
“The war-torn situation in Syria, after years of conflict and war, does not allow for new confrontations. The priority at this stage is reconstruction and stability, and not being drawn into conflicts that may lead to more destruction.”
He added that diplomatic solutions are the only way to ensure security and stability and that “uncalculated military adventures” are undesirable.
Regarding Russia, whose military intervention nearly a decade ago helped tip the balance in favor of Assad and granted asylum to the ousted president earlier this week, Al-Sharaa said that its relations with Syria must serve common interests.
He added, “The current stage requires careful management of international relations.”
(This story has been corrected to say “five decades of iron-fisted family rule,” not “13-year rule” in paragraph 2)
