ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has condemned Israel’s ongoing military actions in Syria, calling them “dangerous and deliberately destabilizing,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported on Friday.
Israel has ramped up airstrikes over the past week against military and strategic sites in Damascus and southern Syria.
According to Syrian and regional monitoring groups, these strikes have resulted in civilian casualties and extensive infrastructure damage. The intensifying campaign has prompted rebukes from Syria’s government and other UN Security Council members.
“Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad called for the immediate cessation of all violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Radio Pakistan reported after he addressed a national statement during the UN Security Council briefing on the situation in Syria,
Violence in Syria pitting the Islamist-led government against members of the Druze community has put a spotlight on the small but influential minority.
Straddling Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the Druze occupy a special niche in the region’s complex politics.
Israel has cited protecting the Druze as a reason for attacking Syrian government forces this week.
Ahmad described the strikes as “repeated violations” that “must be unequivocally condemned,” warning that they threatened regional peace .
Israel bombed Syria frequently when President Bashar Assad was in power, seeking to roll back the influence established by Iran and Iran-backed groups that were deployed there to help him fight rebels.
Israel has painted the new Syrian government as a jihadist threat, saying it won’t allow it to deploy forces into southern Syria. Israel has said it wants to avoid any hostile build-up at its border, whilst also vowing to protect the Druze minority.
Israeli troops have also seized Syrian territory adjoining the occupied Golan Heights since December.
Syria’s interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa on Thursday said Israel was promoting division among Syrians, accusing it of seeking to “dismantle the unity of our people,” saying it had “consistently targeted our stability and created discord among us since the fall of the former regime” in December.
With inputs from Reuters
