Syrian president warns Israel against attempts to drag it into war
Syria roiled by more sectarian violence that left hundreds dead and heightened the threat of bigger Israeli intervention
Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Thursday accused Israel of trying to instigate a war and vowed that Syria would not be drawn into the conflict.
“We, the people of Syria, know very well who is trying to drag us into war and who is working to divide us,” Sharaa said in a dawn speech broadcast on national television.
“We will not give them the opportunity to entangle our people in a war that serves only to fragment our homeland and sow destruction.”
Sharaa blamed Israel for exploiting instability in the wake of regime change, accusing it of targeting civilian infrastructure and seeking to derail reconstruction efforts.
“Power alone does not guarantee victory, and igniting a war is not the same as controlling its outcome,” he said. “We are stronger than any attempt to tear us apart.”