UPDATE - Saudi Arabia, Egypt condemn Israeli strikes on Syria

ADDS EGYPTIAN STATEMENT; REVISES HEADLINE; LEDE

By Yusuf Alioğlu and Rania Abu Shamala

ISTANBUL (AA) - Saudi Arabia and Egypt condemned Israel’s bombing of Syria in statements late Wednesday and called on the international community to stop its destabilizing actions.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry said the Kingdom "expresses its condemnation and denunciation of the Israeli occupation forces' bombing of several areas in the sisterly Syrian Arab Republic and their attempts to undermine its security and stability, in repeated violations of relevant international agreements and laws."

The ministry also expressed solidarity with Syria, its government and its people.

It also highlighted "the necessity for the international community to fulfill its responsibilities in stopping Israel’s destabilizing actions, preventing the expansion of the conflict—an issue that Saudi Arabia has repeatedly warned about."

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said that Egypt “condemns the latest Israeli attacks on Syrian territory, which constitute a systematic escalation, a blatant violation of international law, and a disregard for the UN Charter."

It emphasized that "this Israeli approach further exacerbates tensions and conflict, while also constituting a flagrant violation of Syria's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity."

The ministry called on "international actors and the UN Security Council to assume their responsibilities in compelling Israel to halt these blatant violations and to put an end to them."

Additionally, it stressed "the importance of Israel withdrawing from the Syrian territories it has recently occupied, in a blatant violation of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement, as a step toward achieving a full withdrawal from the Syrian territories occupied in 1967, given that the Golan Heights is occupied Syrian land."

Israel carried out airstrikes late Tuesday on several locations in the Damascus countryside and Daraa province in southern Syria.

After the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone, a move that violated the 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria. It also intensified airstrikes targeting Syrian military positions across the country.

Israel’s recent military advances in the Golan Heights, which it has occupied since 1967, have drawn condemnation from the UN and several Arab nations.

Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party’s regime, which had been in power since 1963.