Syrian rebel leader urges Israel to end airstrikes after Assad's overthrow

Al-Sharaa said the Israelis have crossed the rules of engagement in his interview with Syrian TV on Saturday. About 400 Israeli airstrikes in past days have destroyed much of the Syrian army's assets

The head of the Syrian insurgent group that led the overthrow of Bashar Assad's government says they are not about to enter a conflict with Israel. But Ahmad al-Sharaa in his first public comments on Israel in the week since Assad's fall said "the pretexts that Israel uses have ended" for its airstrikes inside Syria in recent days.

Al-Sharaa said the Israelis have crossed the rules of engagement in his interview with Syrian TV on Saturday. About 400 Israeli airstrikes in the past days have destroyed much of the Syrian army's assets.

Al-Sharaa leads Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS. The excerpts released from his interview did not address contact with the United States, which on Saturday said had been in direct communication with HTS, which it designated a foreign terrorist organisation years ago.

The HTS leader did say the new authorities in Damascus are in contact with Western embassies, and that authorities have a plan to start reconstruction and development in Syria. He did not give details.

He added that the authorities have given Russia - a key backer of Assad - an opportunity to reconsider relations with the Syrian people, and that authorities are not hostile to the people of Iran, another Assad backer.  Israel okays plan to expand settlements on occupied Golan  

Israel’s government approved a plan on Sunday to expand Israeli settlements on the Golan Heights it occupies, saying it had acted “in light of the war and the new front facing Syria” and out of a desire to double the Israeli population on the Golan. “Strengthening the Golan is strengthening the State of Israel, and it is especially important at this time. We will continue to hold onto it, cause it to blossom, and settle in it,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.