Netanyahu says Israel has ‘no interest in conflict with Syria’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement released on Sunday that “we have no interest in conflict with Syria” and Israel’s policy will follow “the emerging reality on the ground”.
He described Israeli military actions in the past week, including hundreds of airstrikes, as aimed at thwarting potential threats.
Israel has also sent in ground troops, calling the incursion temporary but signalling the presence is open-ended.
For his part, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Ahmad al-Sharaa has said they do not intend to enter any conflict “because there is general exhaustion in Syria”.
Israel’s government also approved Mr Netanyahu’s plan to encourage population growth in the Golan Heights, which Qatar quickly called “a new episode in a series of Israeli aggressions on Syrian territories and a blatant violation of international law”.
Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it, though the international community except for the US regards it as occupied.
Israeli figures show the remote territory is home to about 50,000 people, about half of them Jewish Israelis and the other half Arab Druze, many of whom still consider themselves Syrians.