Sharaa slams Israel over Katz, Saar attacks on Syria government

Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Monday hit back at Israeli attempts to exploit the sectarian violence that has swept Syria over the past week by attacking him and the Syrian government. 

Last week, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said called Sharaa “a jihadist terrorist of the al-Qaeda school who is committing horrifying acts against a civilian population”. 

On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called the Syrian government “pure evil” when talking about the deaths of civilians in Syria. 

In an interview with Reuters, Sharaa responded, calling Israel’s accusations against him and Syria “nonsense”.

“They are the last ones who can talk,” he said, pointing out the massive civilian death toll in Israel’s brutal war on Gaza, in which at least 61,000 people have been killed, taking into account those missing in the rubble.

Syrian security forces are said to have killed hundreds of Alawi civilians during clashes with Assad loyalists in Latakia, Tartous and Hama. Sharaa has denounced the violence against civilians, as well as announcing a probe into what happened and who was responsible. 

Many have said that Israel is attempting to exploit the violence to further its own agenda in Syria, where it has called for the country to be split along ethnic and religious lines. 

Since Syrian rebels overthrew the Assad regime and set up a transitional government, Israel has reacted with hostility, expanding its illegal occupation of the Golan Heights into the buffer zone in Syria’s south. It has also launched huge bombing campaigns on the country, including one over the course of the night that hit over 40 targets in Daraa. 

Tel Aviv has justified its hostility by claiming it is taking pre-emptive action against potential future threats. In Sharaa’s recent interview with Reuters, he addressed Israel’s justifications for violence and occupation.

“We are trying to use patience and wisdom as much as possible. If there are fears, we have announced from the first moments that Syria will not pose a threat to any state in the region or the world,” the former rebel leader said.

“And if there are expansionist motives, the entire world agreed with Syria to condemn Israel’s steps in advancing on Syrian territory,” he added.

Last month, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called for Syria to split into a “federal system”, labelling the Syrian government as an “Islamic jihad terrorist group”. 

The new Syrian government has said it would respect the 1974 disengagement plan with Israel, while Israel continues to violate it and has claimed it could occupy the buffer zone in southern Syria “indefinitely”. 

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