Rebel leader: Israel has ‘no more excuses’ to strike, Syria won’t be dragged into war

Ahmad al-Sharaa, leader of the Syrian Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) that spearheaded the overthrow of the Bashar al-Assad regime, declares that Israel has “no more excuses” to carry out airstrikes in Syria.

In an interview with the Syrian TV news channel, Al-Sharaa talks about Israel for the first time since the fall of Assad, saying that the recent IDF attacks on Syrian soil have crossed red lines and threatened an unjustified escalation in the region. During a major air bombing campaign this past week, the IDF struck over 350 targets in Syria to take out strategic weapons stockpiles in Syria, to prevent the former regime’s advanced weaponry from falling into hostile hands.

Without explicitly mentioning Israel, Al-Sharaa — who his better known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Julani — implies that under his leadership, Syria will not attack the Jewish state. He says that at this stage Syria will not be dragged into conflicts that may lead to further destruction, with reconstruction and stability the main priorities.

He adds that Iran’s presence in Syria posed a great danger to Syria itself, to neighboring countries and the Gulf. “We were able to end the Iranian presence in Syria, but we are not enemies of the Iranian people.”