In an exclusive interview with The Times, Mohammed al-Julani, the new leader of Syria and former leader of the rebel organization Tahrir al-Sham Brigade, demanded that Israel withdraw its forces from the country and announced that if his request was not answered, Israel would "encounter a response."
"The presence of Hezbollah and the Iranian militias no longer exists here," he noted, "Therefore, Israel's justification for its airstrikes is no longer valid. If Israel does not withdraw its forces from the territories it has held since the fall of Assad, it will encounter a response."
In addition, he declared that under his leadership, Syria would not serve as a base for launching attacks against Israel or any other country. Julani, who changed his name to Ahmed al-Shaara, called on the West to lift the sanctions imposed on Syria during the Assad regime.
According to him, sanctions imposed on Syria during the Assad era are harming the country's ability to recover. "Syria needs international help, not sanctions," he said in an interview. He made it clear that the new government under his leadership would focus on rebuilding the economy and restoring stability to the residents.
