Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gave a rare interview with Sky News Arabia Wednesday, in which he disputed Israeli claims of strikes on Iranian forces in his country.
"Israeli strikes on Syria are directed against the Syrian army under the pretext of the Iranian presence," Assad told Sky News.
Assad also said, "The attacks will continue as long as Israel is an enemy."
Over the last few years, Israel has consistently carried out airstrikes against a variety of military sites in Syria. The most recent such strike occurred overnight on Sunday.
While Israel does not comment on individual strikes, military and civilian leadership have said the strikes are aimed at Iranian forces, primarily Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), forces.
Israel has said it has no intention of escalation in the conflict with Syria. In fact, during the Syrian Civil War, Israel was largely uninvolved. However, Israel has repeatedly said it will not allow Iran to entrench itself in Syrian territory.
The Syrian regime disputes claims of an extensive Iranian military presence in the country. Many analysts who follow Syria and Iran dispute this claim, saying that Iran is heavily involved in Syria and pursuing long-term strategic objectives.
Recently, Tal Beeri, head of the Alma Research and Education Center in Northern Israel wrote an article for Israel's Arutz 7, arguing that Iranian-backed militias are attempting to take over command of the Syrian army.
The report details how Syrian army groups and Iranian militias operate together, often under the same chain of command, and share locations such as storage sites and weapons depots.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has documented most of those airstrikes and they back up Israeli claims of Iranian-affiliated personnel and equipment at most of the strike locations.
SOHR has documented 22 Israeli strikes in Syrian just in 2023. According to their figures, Israeli strikes this year have killed 42 Syrian military members, 22 Iranian-backed non-Syrian militia members, 6 IRGC members, 4 Iranian-backed Syrian militia members, and 3 members of Hezbollah.
SOHR records only two civilian deaths resulting from the attacks, although they report an undisclosed number of civilian injuries.
This article originally appeared on All Israel News and is reposted with permission.