Mohammed al-Jolani standing on a hill overlooking the Syrian capital Damascus a day after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government, Dec. 9, 2024.<\/p>\n
The new \u201cgovernor\u201d of the Syrian capital Damascus says the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militant group, which took over the Arab country earlier this month, is after establishing \u201cpeace\u201d with the Israeli regime.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cOur problem is not with Israel,\u201d Maher Marwan told NPR <\/em>in remarks that the American public broadcaster published on Thursday, adding that the militants \u201cdon\u2019t want to meddle in anything that will threaten Israel\u2019s security, and Tel Aviv\u2019s concern over new regime is \u2018natural.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n He said that the militant group wanted to have cordial relations with the regime, and noted, \u201cWe have no fear toward Israel, and our problem is not with Israel. There exists a people who want coexistence. They want peace. They don\u2019t want disputes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd we don\u2019t want to meddle in anything that will threaten Israel\u2019s security or any other country\u2019s security,\u201d he said, signaling his recognition of the Israeli regime in those terms, and Tel Aviv\u2019s occupation of huge expanses of regional territories.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want peace, and we cannot be an opponent to Israel or an opponent to anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n He also claimed that the regime\u2019s initial apprehension after the fall of the former president Bashar al-Assad was \u201cnatural.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIsrael may have felt fear,\u201d he said. \u201cSo it advanced a little, bombed a little, etc,\u201d the official added, in an apparently considerable underestimation of the regime\u2019s markedly intensified ongoing attacks against the Arab country in the run-up and the aftermath of the militant takeover.<\/p>\n The Israeli regime alleges that the aggression that has targeted Syria\u2019s military and civilian infrastructures has been aimed at preventing the country\u2019s defensive means from falling into the \u201cwrong hands and hostile elements.\u201d<\/p>\n The regime has also expanded its invasion of occupied Golan Heights in a move that has drawn international condemnation.<\/p>\n This is while Tel Aviv has claimed that it did not seek to interfere with the situation in the country and its seizure of a so-called buffer zone inside the mountainous territory was a \u201cdefensive measure.\u201d<\/p>\n