HTS head vows not to ‘allow Syria to be used for anti-Israeli attacks’
The head of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militant group, which ousted the Syrian government earlier this month amid widespread reports of Western and Israeli support, says he will not allow the country’s soil to be used for anti-Israeli attacks.
"We do not want any conflict whether with Israel or anyone else and we will not let Syria be used as a launchpad for attacks,” Ahmed al-Sharaa alleged in an interview with The Times on Monday.
He ruled out attacks from the Syrian territory against the Israeli regime or any other “state," in, what observers said, implied his recognition of the regime in those terms and Tel Aviv’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Earlier, al-Sharaa had also asserted that his group “will not engage” in a conflict with Tel Aviv, alleging that the country’s “weakened state” was the reason.
The founder of the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda and the former deputy commander of Daesh (ISIS) had also said that the regime had no longer any reason to attack the country because “Hezbollah and Iran are no more.”
In the Monday interview, he repeated the remarks, alleging that Israeli strikes against Syria “must end and Israel has to pull back to its previous positions."
The regime has markedly intensified its deadly attacks against Syria, especially targeting its military infrastructure, in the aftermath of its takeover by the anti-Damascus militants, who are widely reported to have been receiving extensive military support and cooperation on the part of the Israeli regime and the West since the outbreak of foreign-backed militancy in the country in 2011.
Al-Sharaa also pleaded with the West to lift its sanctions against the country, and also dismissed the United States, the UK, and others’ designation of his group as a “terrorist organization,” alleging that the HTS “did military activities."
The remarks came as the countries are reportedly examining removing the group from the list.
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