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‘Cease at once’: UN envoy urges Israel to stop attacking Syria

‘I strongly condemn Israel’s continued and escalating violations of Syria’s sovereignty, including air strikes in Damascus and other cities,’ said Geir Pedersen

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Smoke is seen after an Israeli airstrike on Damascus, Syria, on Saturday. Photo: Xinhua

United Nations special envoy Geir Pedersen on Saturday urged Israel to immediately stop its attacks on Syria, after strikes including one near Damascus’s presidential palace, which followed sectarian violence this week.

Fresh overnight strikes were reported, coming as Israel has repeatedly said its forces were ready to protect the Druze minority, following sectarian clashes that a war monitor said killed 119 people, mostly Druze fighters.

Since ousting long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, Syria’s new authorities – who have roots in al-Qaeda – have vowed inclusive rule in the multi-confessional, multi-ethnic country, but they must also contend with internal pressures from radical Islamists.

“I strongly condemn Israel’s continued and escalating violations of Syria’s sovereignty, including multiple air strikes in Damascus and other cities,” Pedersen said in a post on X, calling “for these attacks to cease at once”.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 20 strikes hit military targets across Syria late Friday, in the “heaviest” assault carried out by Israel on its neighbour this year.

Syria’s state news agency SANA reported strikes near Damascus and in the country’s centre, west and south, saying one civilian was killed.

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