Aboul-Gheit described the Israeli attacks as “reckless provocations and escalation…reports Asian Lite News
Arab League (AL) Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit has strongly condemned the recent Israeli raids on the Syrian territories.
In an AL statement on Wednesday, Aboul-Gheit described the Israeli attacks as “reckless provocations and escalation that exploited the political transition in Syria to establish an illegal and illegitimate reality”.
He called for the international community “to take clear positions to condemn this unjustified aggression that aims to ignite tension in the region and put obstacles in the way of political transition in Syria”.
He noted that any Israeli occupation of Syrian territories constitutes a clear violation of international law, calling on the international community for further condemnation, Xinhua news agency reported.
He reaffirmed the Arab League’s solidarity with Syria in the face of Israeli attacks and “blatant attempts to sow discord”.
Since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad, Israel has regularly launched airstrikes on military sites in Syria, and Israeli forces moved into territory in southern Syria adjacent to the Israel-occupied Golan Heights and have made clear they plan to stay indefinitely, citing security concerns.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel won’t allow Syria’s new army to “enter the area south of Damascus”.
There has been no official response from the Syrian interim government, led by members of the former insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, to Netanyahu’s comments, but Syrian officials have called for Israel to withdraw from the territory it has seized since Assad’s fall.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed the strikes on Syria, warning that any attempt by Syrian regime forces “to establish themselves in the security zone in southern Syria will be met with fire”.
Israeli airstrikes intensified in southern Syria on Tuesday night, targeting multiple military sites, following Netanyahu’s recent remarks calling for the “full demilitarisation of southern Syria”.
The Syrian interim government denounced the attacks, calling them a blatant violation of Syria’s sovereignty.
After the fall of the Bashar Al-Assad regime in December, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarised buffer zone, a move that violated the 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria.
Tel Aviv also intensified air strikes targeting Syrian military positions across the country.
Israel’s recent military advances in the Golan Heights, which it has occupied since 1967, have drawn condemnation from the UN and several Arab nations.
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