Gulf bloc condemns attacks on Syria as Israel again strikes Damascus countryside
The latest attack comes despite US President Trump urging Israel to show restraint.
Leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have denounced the ongoing Israeli attacks on Syrian soil, as Israel carried out yet another drone strike in the Damascus countryside.
In the final communique of the 46th summit in Manama, the GCC condemned “the repeated Israeli attacks and violations against the sisterly Syrian Arab Republic and its blatant assaults on its sovereignty and stability, which undermine its security, unity, territorial integrity, and the safety of its citizens.”
The bloc reaffirmed that the Golan Heights is part of Syrian land, calling Israel’s expansion in the area and the occupation of the buffer zone on the Syrian border “a grave violation” of the UN Charter, the principles of international law, and relevant Security Council resolutions.
The statement came as Syrian state-run TV channel Alikhbariah reported on Wednesday that the Israeli drone strike targeted an area close to Beit Jinn villaage in the Damascus countryside.
There was no immediate report of casualties in the attack.
On Friday, at least 13 people were killed, including women and children, and 24 others were injured in an Israeli raid in Beit Jinn.
The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) also reported two Israeli raids in the southern Quneitra countryside on Wednesday.
The broadcaster said Israeli forces were stationed in the Um al-Izam village and set up a military checkpoint.
A three-vehicle Israeli patrol also advanced towards Rwihinah village south of the Quneitra countryside.
The latest attack came despite calls for restraint from US President Donald Trump to Israel on Monday.
Syrian government data shows that since December 2024, Israel has carried out over 1,000 air strikes on Syria and more than 400 cross-border raids into the southern provinces.
After the fall of the Bashar al Assad regime in late 2024, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarised buffer zone, a move that violated a 1974 agreement with Syria.