‘The last ones who can talk’: Sharaa dismisses Israeli threats against Syria

By Reuters and ToI Staff 10 March 2025, 6:10 pm 20 Edit

Screen capture from a handout video statement released by the Syrian Presidency shows Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa speaking in Damascus on March 9, 2025. (Syrian Presidency / AFP)

Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa rejects criticism from Israel in an interview with Reuters.

Last week Defense Minister Israel Katz called Sharaa “a jihadist terrorist of the al-Qaeda school who is committing horrifying acts against a civilian population” and earlier today Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says the regime is “pure evil.”

Syrian government control is weak in Syria’s south, where Israel has taken up a presence in the demilitarized zone and threatened to target Sharaa’s forces if they deploy.

Sharaa dismisses the Israeli threats and Katz’s comments as “nonsense.”

“They are the last ones who can talk,” he says, noting the high death toll in Israel’s 17 months of war against Hamas in Gaza.