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DAMASCUS: An Israeli strike killed a man in southern Syria, state media reported Tuesday, with Damascus condemning the attack as a “flagrant violation” of international law.
Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria since an Islamist-led alliance toppled longtime ruler Bashar Assad in December.
It has also opened talks with the interim authorities in Damascus.
“A young man was killed in an Israeli strike on a home in the village of Taranja,” on the formerly Syria-controlled side of the armistice line on the Golan Heights, the official SANA news agency reported.
Syria condemned “the recent Israeli attacks on its territory, which resulted in the martyrdom of a young man,” the foreign ministry said.
It also condemned the Israeli forces’ incursion into a town in the Quneitra countryside, their “arrest campaigns against civilians,” and their “announcement of the continuation of their illegal presence on the summit of Mount Hermon and the buffer zone.”
“These aggressive practices constitute a flagrant violation of the UN Charter, international law, and relevant Security Council resolutions, and constitute a direct threat to peace and security in the region.”
The Israeli military said on Sunday that it had carried out “several activities last week in southern Syria to locate weapons and apprehend suspects.”
The Saudi foreign ministry said the Israeli attacks were a “flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the sisterly Syrian Arab Republic and international law.”
The Qatari foreign ministry called on “the international community to take decisive action against the Israeli occupation and compel it to halt its repeated attacks on Syrian territory.”
Since Assad’s overthrow, Israel has occupied much of a UN-patrolled demilitarised zone on the formerly Syria-controlled side of the armistice line, including the summit of Mount Hermon, the region’s highest peak.
Last week, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani met Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer in Paris to push for a return to the arrangements that had been in place since a 1974 disengagement agreement.

DAMASCUS: Syria on Monday welcomed the US Treasury Department’s decision to remove it from the sanctions list under the Code of Federal Regulations, describing it as a “positive development” that could ease humanitarian and economic hardships.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that the Syrian Sanctions Regulations will be lifted as of Tuesday following President Donald Trump’s June order to terminate the national emergency underpinning the restrictions. 

Sanctions dating back to 2004 and expanded during years of conflict will no longer apply, officially allowing American companies to conduct business with Damascus.

In a statement, Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the move will “directly reflect on the humanitarian and economic conditions of the Syrian people” by facilitating trade, financial transactions and US exports, while opening “new horizons for economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.”

The ministry noted the timing of the decision coincided with the visit of a second official US congressional delegation to Damascus, led by Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Representative Joe Wilson, accompanied by Ambassador Tom Barrack, the US president’s special envoy for Syria.

President Ahmad al-Sharaa received the delegation in the presence of senior Syrian ministers, with talks focusing on strengthening bilateral ties and exploring areas of cooperation. 

The ministry said the meetings signaled growing support within Congress for the full lifting of sanctions, including efforts to repeal the 2019 Caesar Act before the end of this year.

“For his part, President al-Sharaa expressed appreciation for the efforts made in Congress, stressing that these simultaneous developments, the lifting of restrictions and the resumption of official visits, constitute a continuation of a practical and realistic path that serves the interests of the Syrian people and enhances stability in the region,” the statement said.

US officials have said that while sanctions are being removed, Congress must still act to formally repeal the Caesar Act. 

The Syrian government affirmed its readiness to continue dialogue with international partners on the basis of sovereignty and mutual respect, with the aim of ensuring stability and prosperity for the Syrian people and the wider region.