In a speech delivered early Thursday morning following the announcement of a truce agreement in As-Suwayda, Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa stated that Israel had attempted to undermine the ceasefire, were it not for American, Arab, and Turkish mediation.
اضافة اعلان
Al-Sharaa declared, "Since the fall of the former regime, the Israeli entity has sought to turn our land into a zone of conflict and to fragment our people." He emphasized, "There is no place for others’ ambitions on our land. We will restore Syria’s dignity, and national interest must come first."
Regarding the Israeli strikes that hit Damascus and other areas of Syria on Wednesday, the president said, "We were faced with the choice between war with Israel or giving Druze elders space to reach an agreement, and we chose to protect the homeland."
"In this regard," he added, "we are not afraid of war, but we prioritized the people's interests over chaos. Our best option was to preserve national unity. The Syrian state, with all its institutions, intervened to halt the internal fighting in As-Suwayda and successfully restored security."
Concerning the agreement with the spiritual leaders of the Druze community, Al-Sharaa said, "We have decided to assign some local factions and Druze elders to restore order. Our Druze people are an essential part of our national fabric, and protecting them is a top priority for us."
He affirmed that "Syrians, throughout their long history, have rejected all forms of division. We are the children of this land, and we are best equipped to overcome the Israeli entity’s attempts to divide us. Syria is not a testing ground for foreign conspiracies or the ambitions of others. Building a new Syria requires that we rally around our homeland."
Israel, which declared it would “not abandon” the Druze and called for their protection, launched a series of airstrikes on Wednesday targeting sites in As-Suwayda and Damascus. The Israeli air force struck the General Staff building, the Ministry of Defense, and the vicinity of the presidential palace. Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz announced that “warning messages to Damascus are over” and promised what he called “crippling strikes.”
Source: Al Jazeera
