Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement released Sunday that “we have no interest in a conflict with Syria” and that Israel’s policies will follow “the emerging reality on the ground.”

He described Israeli military actions over the past week, including hundreds of airstrikes, as aimed at thwarting potential threats.

Israel has also sent ground troops, calling the incursion temporary but signaling its presence is unlimited.

For his part, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Ahmad al-Sharaa said he did not intend to enter into conflict “because there is a general exhaustion in Syria.”

The Israeli government also approved Mr. Netanyahu’s plan to encourage population growth in the Golan Heights, which Qatar quickly called “another episode in a series of Israeli aggressions on Syrian territories and a blatant violation of the international law”.

Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East War and annexed it, although the international community except the United States considers it occupied.

Israeli figures show that this remote territory is home to around 50,000 people, about half of whom are Israeli Jews and the other half Druze Arabs, many of whom still consider themselves Syrian.