Syria’s de facto leader said Israel no longer had any “excuse” to remain in the two countries’ buffer zone after Damascus rid itself of Iran’s presence, and stated that he would welcome United Nations peacekeepers there under the 1974 Israel-Syria disengagement agreement.

Ahmed Al-Sharaa was speaking to reporters in Damascus during a joint press conference Thursday with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who also condemned Israel’s seizure of the buffer zone.

Israel has said the seizure is temporary and necessary to prevent the border region from falling into the wrong hands amid the chaos and uncertainty in Syria after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

Though Sharaa’s comments appeared to show a hardened tone toward the Israeli incursion, his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham jihadi group has not commented on an Israeli strike targeting a weapons convoy in southern Syria Wednesday that was said to have killed several people, including military officials of the new government.

“Israel’s advance in the region was due to the presence of Iranian militias and Hezbollah. After the liberation of Damascus, I believe that they have no presence at all. There are pretexts that Israel is using today to advance into the Syrian regions, into the buffer zone,” said Sharaa, whose HTS spearheaded the rebel forces that toppled Assad last month.

“We’ve notified........

© The Times of Israel