Israel using Syria as launching point to attack Lebanon via incursions: Syria's UN envoy

Syria's ambassador to the UN said Wednesday that Israel is using Syrian territory as a launchpad for military strikes against Lebanon, warning the Security Council that Tel Aviv's actions risk dragging the entire region into a wider conflict.

In an address to the Council, Ibrahim Olabi said Israel "continues to pursue its aggressive and expansionist policies," outlining a pattern of behavior he described as a deliberate campaign to destabilize the recovering nation.

"It has adopted five-year plans to expand settlement activity in the occupied Syrian Golan," Olabi said, adding that Israel "fuels tensions and unrest and escalates its attacks as its continuous incursions into southern Syria are not enough."

He drew the Council's attention to Israel's cross-border military activity and said that Israel "uses Syrian territory that it has infiltrated as a launching point for military attacks targeting brotherly Lebanon."

Olabi also stressed that Israel "deliberately targets civilians, abducts Syrian children and civilians" and "sprays unknown chemical substances on agricultural lands," as documented by UN agencies.

Beyond the military dimension, he further warned that Israeli leaders were actively working to reshape the region's political landscape in ways harmful to Syria's future.

"Its leadership continues to promote speculative maps linking Syria to regional axes unrelated to it," he added.

Olabi said "it seems that Israel is intent on dragging Syria into the current regional escalation with the aim of undermining all the progress that we have all achieved."

He further urged the Council to "act immediately and seriously to restrain Israel and put an end to its aggressive policies" for the interest of Syria's stability and that of the region.

Türkiye's UN envoy Ahmet Yildiz echoed concerns about Israeli military activity in Syria and called on Tel Aviv to reverse course.

"It is essential that Israel also refrains from escalatory actions in Syria and rolls back its encroachment," Yildiz said, adding that "stability in southern Syria must be ensured in full compliance with the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement."

"We reiterate our call for Israel's withdrawal from the buffer zone and from the areas it has occupied since 8 December," he said, stressing that "respect for Syria's sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity remains indispensable."