More Israeli air raids on Syria despite UN warning

Israeli warplanes launched more air strikes against military targets in Syria on Thursday, hours after the United Nations said such attacks "undermine efforts to build a new Syria".

Thursday's air raids came after a wave of Israeli strikes on military targets, including an airport, and a ground incursion in the south killed 13 people.

War monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported two strikes "on military positions and posts" in the vicinity of Al-Kiswah and Al-Muqaylibah outside Damascus.

It said there were no immediate reports of casualties.

Since Islamist-led rebels toppled longtime strongman Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel has been bombing Syrian military assets extensively and has conducted ground incursions into southern Syria to repel the new government's forces from the border.

UN envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen decried "the repeated and intensifying military escalations by Israel in Syria, including air strikes that have reportedly resulted in civilian casualties".

"Such actions undermine efforts to build a new Syria at peace with itself and the region, and destabilise Syria at a sensitive time," he said in a statement.

Authorities in the southern province of Daraa said nine civilians were killed and several wounded in Israeli shelling overnight near the town of Nawa.

The provincial government said the bombardment came amid Israel's deepest ground incursion into southern Syria so far.

Israel said it had responded to fire from gunmen during an operation in southern Syria and warned interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa he would face severe consequences if its security was threatened.

The Observatory said the dead were gunmen killed "while attempting to confront Israeli forces, following calls by the mosques in the area for jihad against the Israeli incursion".

- 'Military threat' -

An angry crowd gathered Thursday for the funeral of those killed in Daraa.

"This is an agricultural area... where no one threatens Israeli forces. We want to live in peace, but we do not accept attacks," said one, 48-year-old Khaled al-Awdat.

Israel's military said its forces had been conducting operations in the Tasil area near Nawa, "seizing weapons and destroying terrorist infrastructure" when "several gunmen fired at our forces".

They responded "and eliminated several armed terrorists from the ground and from the air", a spokesperson said. There were no Israeli casualties.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded in February that southern Syria be completely demilitarised and said his government would not accept the presence of the forces of the new Islamist-led government near Israeli territory.

In December, Netanyahu ordered troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone along the 1974 armistice line on the Golan Heights.

On Wednesday, Israel hit targets across Syria including in the Damascus area.

Syria's foreign ministry said the strikes resulted in the "near-total destruction" of a military airport in the central province of Hama and wounded dozens of civilians and soldiers.

"This unjustified escalation is a deliberate attempt to destabilise Syria and exacerbate the suffering of its people," it said on Telegram.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz hit back, pointedly referring to Sharaa by the nom de guerre he used as an Islamist rebel commander.

"I warn Syrian leader Jolani: If you allow hostile forces to enter Syria and threaten Israeli security interests, you will pay a heavy price," he said.

- 'Normalise violence'-

"The air force's activity yesterday near the airports in T4, Hama and the Damascus area sends a clear message and serves as a warning for the future," Katz added.

A Syrian source told AFP the T4 airbase was coveted by the new government's main foreign backer, Turkey.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused Turkey of playing a "negative role in Syria".

"We don't think Syria should be a Turkish protectorate," he said.

Israel has said it wants to prevent advanced weapons from falling into the hands of the new authorities, whom it considers jihadists.

Sharaa fought for Al-Qaeda in Iraq after the US-led invasion of 2003 and later set up a Syrian branch of the jihadist network before breaking off all ties.

Neighbouring Jordan called Israel's repeated attacks on Syria a clear breach of the 1974 disengagement agreement between the two countries and a "flagrant violation of international law".

Saudi Arabia and Qatar on Thursday also condemned the Israeli attacks.

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