ANKARA

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said that Israeli assaults on Syria reflect “expansionist intentions."

"The Israeli aggression is an exploitation of the regime’s collapse. (Israel) justifies its aggression for alleged security concerns, but it reflects expansionist intentions,” he said in statements on the sidelines of an emergency Arab summit in Egypt on Tuesday.

“How will we respond? This is something we should not disclose now," he added.

Sharaa’s participation in the Arab summit was the first since the overthrow of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria in December.

After Assad’s fall, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone, a move that violated the 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria.

Israel also launched hundreds of airstrikes that targeted military sites and assets across Syria, including fighter jets, missile systems and air defense installations, according to reports.

Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party’s regime, which had been in power since 1963.