Damascus, July 17: Syrian interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa on Thursday strongly condemned Israeli airstrikes on Damascus, reaffirming the government’s commitment to protecting all Syrians, especially the Druze community.
“Our people waged a revolution for freedom and emerged victorious through great sacrifice. They remain ready to fight for their honour whenever threatened,” al-Sharaa said in a nationally televised address. Turning to Israel, al-Sharaa accused the “Israeli entity” of consistently targeting Syrian stability and seeking to incite internal conflict since the fall of the former Syrian government.
He charged that Israel aims to turn Syria into a permanent battlefield, weaken its national cohesion, and obstruct its reconstruction process, reports Xinhua news agency. “Syria is not a testing ground for foreign conspiracies, and we won’t allow external ambitions to be realised at the expense of our children and our future,” he added.
Specifically addressing Syria’s Druze community, al-Sharaa reaffirmed its place as an integral part of the nation. “Protecting your rights and freedoms is a top priority,” he said. “We reject any effort to drag you into foreign agendas or sow internal division.”
Israel on Wednesday carried out several waves of strikes in Damascus and Sweida, a predominantly Druze province in southern Syria, with the stated aim of preventing the Druze minority from being harmed.
Earlier on Wednesday, Syria released a statement calling the Israeli airstrikes that struck government buildings in the capital, Damascus, a “blatant violation” of national sovereignty and international law. Syria said the strikes targeted “civilian infrastructure and government institutions” in Damascus and surrounding areas, leaving several civilians, including women and children, injured and causing extensive material damage.
The statement said the attacks reflect Israel’s “systematic policy of escalation” and its ongoing efforts to destabilise Syria and the wider region, describing them as a clear breach of the United Nations Charter and international humanitarian law.
“Syria holds Israel fully responsible for this dangerous escalation,” the statement read, adding that Syria will exercise its legitimate right to self-defence by all means permitted under international law. The statement also called on the United Nations and the international community, including the Security Council, to condemn the repeated Israeli strikes on Syrian territory and to take “urgent and decisive measures” to curb what it called Israel’s repeated violations.
IANS