Syria’s de facto leader, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, has vowed that he will not allow the country to be used as a launchpad to mount attacks on neighbouring Israel.
Al-Jolani, who now prefers to be called by his birthname, Ahmed al-Shara, also called on Israel to withdraw its forces from the country and stop its barrage of airstrikes.
Speaking to The Times, he said: “We do not want any conflict, whether with Israel or anyone else, and we will not let Syria be used as a launchpad for attacks. The Syrian people need a break, and the strikes must end, and Israel has to pull back to its previous positions.”
After Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad fled the country on December 8 in the face of rapidly advancing rebels, Israel launched hundreds of airstrikes targeting suspected chemical weapons facilities as well as other military sites.
Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, previously said the strikes aimed to create a “sterile defence zone free of weapons and terrorist threats”.
In addition, IDF troops have seized a border buffer zone created in 1974 as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Syria. The military also acknowledged some forces were operating on the Syrian side of the border amid the ongoing situation in the country.
This incursion has caused condemnation by critics who accuse Israel of violating the ceasefire and attempting a land grab.
Al-Shara leads the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which led the charge against Bashar al-Assad’s forces in a stunning offensive across the country earlier this month that led to his government’s downfall.
On Monday, British diplomats met with al-Shara in Damascus, which Foreign Secretary David Lammy said “underlines our commitment to Syria”. He added the UK would support an “inclusive transitional political process that is Syrian-led and Syrian-owned”.
HTS is currently proscribed in the UK as a terrorist organisation.
But al-Sharaa has sought to distance the group from al-Qaeda and present a more moderate face to the world, leading some to call for the proscription to be removed.
Speaking to international media on Monday, al-Shara called for the designation of HTS as a terrorist group to be rescinded, along with sanctions imposed on Syria during the Assad years.
He said: “Syria is very important geostrategically. They should lift all restrictions, which were imposed on the flogger and the victim – the flogger is gone now. This issue is not up for negotiation.”
