JERUSALEM: EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned on Monday during a visit to Jerusalem that Israeli strikes on Syria and Lebanon threatened to worsen the situation.
The most intense escalation since a November ceasefire, which ended the war between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, occurred on Saturday.
Lebanon’s health ministry said seven people were killed, with Israel saying it attacked in response to rocket fire, which Hezbollah denied responsibility for.
Despite the ceasefire, Israel has continued to carry out strikes on Lebanon, and both sides have repeatedly accused the other of violating the truce.
“Military actions must be proportionate, and Israeli strikes into Syria and Lebanon risk further escalation,” Kallas said at a joint news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.
In Syria, Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on military sites since Islamist-led rebels overthrew strongman Bashar Assad in December. Israel says it wants to prevent weapons from falling into the hands of the new authorities it considers jihadists.
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“We feel that these things are unnecessary because Syria is right now not attacking Israel and that feeds more radicalization that is also against Israel, which we don’t want to see,” Kallas told journalists.
The Israeli military has also deployed to the UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights, separating the Israeli-occupied part of the Golan from that still controlled by Syria.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded the demilitarization of southern Syria and said his country will not tolerate the presence of forces from the new authorities south of Damascus.
Syria’s foreign ministry has accused Israel of waging a campaign against “the stability of the country.”
Kallas will hold talks with Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Mustafa in the occupied West Bank later on Monday.
