ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Numerous Arab countries on Tuesday condemned recent Israeli incursions into Syrian territory that resulted in the death of at least one and urged international pressure on the Israeli government to cease the infiltrations.

Syrian state media on Monday reported that the Israeli military launched several incursions in the countryside of Damascus and Quneitra, claiming that at least 60 soldiers advanced into the area.

On Tuesday, an Israeli strike reportedly killed a civilian in southern Syria, with SANA writing that "a young man was killed in an Israeli strike on a home in the village of Taranja" in the Golan Heights.

The Saudi Arabian foreign ministry strongly condemned Israel's "repeated violations" and "incursions into Syrian territories" in a statement released on Tuesday.

The statement also addressed recent civil unrest in the country concerning “the tense situation" in the Druze-majority Suwayda provinces, asserting that Riyadh "affirms its categorical rejection of any separatist calls to divide Syria.”

The Saudi foreign ministry also called upon “the international community to stand by the brotherly Syrian Arab Republic, support it in achieving security, stability, and the sovereignty of the state and its institutions throughout Syria,” and to “stand firmly and decisively against the ongoing Israeli violations in Syria.”

The Qatari foreign ministry issued a similar statement condemning Israeli incursions in the country, saying that “the state of Qatar strongly condemns the incursion of Israeli occupation forces into the territories of the brotherly Syrian Arab Republic, considering it a blatant violation of Syria’s sovereignty.” 

It further urged the international community to “take decisive measures against the Israeli occupation and to compel it to cease its repeated aggression on the Syrian territories.”

A separate statement released by the Kuwaiti foreign ministry expresses “denunciation of the Israeli occupation forces’ continued violations and incursions into the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic” and urges “the international community to shoulder its responsibilities in halting these repeated violations.”

Additionally, the Jordanian foreign ministry condemned “in the strongest terms” the repeated incursions, “including the bombing of a Syrian citizen’s home, which resulted in his death,” and denounced the military’s presence in the buffer zone set by the 1974 disengagement agreement, calling on the international community to “assume its legal and moral responsibilities and compel Israel to halt its attacks.”

These incidents come after Syria’s Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaibani met with Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer in Paris on the 20th of August to request the Israeli government to cease its interference in Syrian affairs, as well as the military incursions.

United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix in July stated the Israeli military’s presence in the “disengagement zone” areas is considered a violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement.

The agreement was signed between the two countries following a battle to establish a ceasefire. As a result, a buffer zone was established between the two forces that was monitored by UN peacekeepers to limit military mobilization on both sides.

Israel has repeatedly launched airstrikes in Syria following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime, nominally to destroy weapons caches and protect the minority Druze community that has been the target of sectarian massacres at the hands of the new Syrian security forces.

Reporting by Hevi Karam