United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was critical on Thursday of Israel’s military operations in Syria.
Guterres’ spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said in a statement that the UN chief is "deeply concerned" over "extensive violations" of Syrian sovereignty and Israeli strikes on the country.
Guterres "is deeply concerned by the recent and extensive violations of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Secretary-General is particularly concerned over the hundreds of Israeli air strikes on several locations in Syria," Dujarric said.
He added that the UN chief stressed "the urgent need to de-escalate violence on all fronts, throughout Syria."
Guterres urges "the parties to the Agreement to uphold their obligations under this instrument, including by ending all unauthorized presence in the area of separation and refraining from any action that would undermine the ceasefire and stability in Golan," Dujarric stated.
Since the fall of the Assad regime over the weekend, the IDF has been operating on the buffer zone between Israel and Syria, targeting threats and terrorist sites along the border. During searches, they confiscated several out-of-use Syrian tanks.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clarified this week that Israel has “no intention of interfering in Syria's internal affairs; however, we do intend to do what is necessary for our security.”
"As such, I approved the Air Force bombing of strategic military capabilities left by the Syrian military so that they will not fall into the hands of the jihadists," he added.
"This is similar to what the British Air Force did when it bombed the fleet of the Vichy regime, which was cooperating with the Nazis, so that it would not fall into the Nazis' hands," Netanyahu said.
A Biden administration official backed the IDF's advance into Syrian territory following the fall of the Assad regime, telling Kan 11 News on Tuesday that Israel made it clear that it is a "temporary and tactical operation to defend its borders."
"No nation can tolerate terror groups being right on their doorstep," the official told the Israeli broadcaster. "Since the Syrian army abandoned its posts in the Israeli-Syrian buffer zone and the area, Israel declared that Syria's enforcement of the 1974 armistice agreement had collapsed. Israel took temporary actions to stabilize the buffer zone and prevent an invasion of Israeli territory. We hope that in the future we will again see stability in the region."