Israel strikes dozens of sites inside Syria despite rebel chief's peace pledge

Israel struck dozens of sites in Syria overnight on Saturday, despite the Syrian rebel leader, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, saying his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group was not interested in conflict with Israel.

- Peter Beaumont

Jolani's comments came as Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced on Sunday that he had approved a plan to expand settlement building in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The latest airstrikes follow a statement by Israel's defense minister, Israel Katz, that Israeli troops, who seized the Golan Heights buffer zone with Syria last week, would remain for the winter on Mount Hermon - known to Syrians as Jabel Sheikh - in positions they occupied last week.

Katz's office said in a statement that "due to what is happening in Syria, there is enormous security importance to our holding on to the peak".

Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, a nom de guerre used by Ahmed al-Sharaa, told Syrian state media: "There are no excuses for any foreign intervention in Syria now after the Iranians have left. We are not in the process of engaging in a conflict with Israel."

Jolani said Israel was using false pretexts to justify its attacks on Syria, but that he was not interested in engaging in new conflicts as the country focused on rebuilding after the end of Bashar al-Assad's reign.

He added that "diplomatic solutions" were the only way to ensure stability rather than "ill-considered military adventures".