Israel intensifies Syria attacks, but HTS leader says doesn’t want conflict
Al Jazeera
De facto new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa slams Israelis attacks, but says Syria cannot afford to enter a new conflict.
Israeli air forces have carried out dozens of attacks targeting military and ammunition sites across Syria, as the de facto Syrian leader warned against the incursion but added that his country does not want a new conflict.
“More than 60 Israeli air strikes took place over the last 12 hours,” Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar, reporting from the Syrian capital, Damascus, said, adding that Israel has conducted about 800 air raids across Syria since the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last week.
“We have heard several loud explosions, which have been almost a routine here. The focus of Israeli air strikes is Damascus and its outskirts,” said Serdar, confirming that ammunition depots and air defence systems had been struck in a district of Damascus.
“This has been part of the Israeli strategy since the fall of the al-Assad regime to leave the country without air defences against its attacks,” Serdar said.
Israeli forces have also destroyed roads, power lines, and water networks in the southeastern Quneitra region after people refused to follow their orders to evacuate, according to Al Jazeera’s Muntasir Abou Nabout.
