“Our problem is not with Israel,” Maher Marwan, the new governor of Damascus, told NPR on behalf of new Syrian leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani.
Following their rapid 11-day takeover of Syria, the leaders of Al-Qaeda affiliated Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) are looking to consolidate their international legitimacy as the ‘new Syria.’
In a meeting with NPR’s Hadeel Al-Salachi, Marwan said it was “natural” that Israel had concerns about the new Syrian government and that as a result of this “fear,” Israel “advanced a little, bombed a little.”
Marwan added that the new Syrian administration doesn’t “want to meddle in anything that will threaten Israel’s security or any other country’s security.”
US mediation
Going a step further than Julani’s previous statements, Marwan called on the United States to facilitate better relations with Israel.
A US official told NPR that the US relayed HTS’s message to Israel.
“We want peace, and we do not want to be an opponent to Israel or an opponent to anyone, Marwan concluded.
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