'Criminal provocation': Iran condemns Netanyahu’s illegal entry into Syria

Zionist regime’s media reported that Netanyahu visited the Israeli-occupied buffer zone in southern Syria on Wednesday. He was accompanied by minister of military affairs Israel Katz, foreign minister Gideon Saar, military chief Eyal Zamir, and Shin Bet director David Zini, among others.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei denounced the visit, calling it another blatant violation of international law.

The visit came amid reports that Israeli authorities and the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) regime in Damascus have been involved in direct talks in recent months, aimed at reaching what is being referred to as a security agreement.

The West has effectively embraced HTS, which has sought normalization with Israel, even as Tel Aviv has met such overtures with repeated aggression and the continued occupation of Syrian territory.

Netanyahu’s intrusion comes shortly after HTS leader Abu Muhammad al-Jolani met with Trump in Washington, highlighting a dangerous trajectory in which the US appears willing to sacrifice Syria to advance its own geopolitical agenda.

Baghaei warned of the consequences of the Zionist regime's continued war-mongering and hegemony-seeking for regional peace and security.

"This criminal movement, which comes in the wake of repeated air and ground assaults on Syria and the occupation of a significant part of the country’s south, is a provocative action aimed at consolidating and expanding the scope of the occupation in southern Syria," he said.

The spokesman also emphasized the responsibility of the international community and the UN Security Council to compel the occupying regime to withdraw from all occupied areas in the Golan and southern Syria.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric expressed concerns on Wednesday over the visit. “I think this very public visit is concerning, to say the least. We call on Israel to respect the 1974 Disengagement Agreement,” he said.

He said the issue was raised during the recent meeting between United Nations Deputy Special Envoy for Syria Najat Rochdi and Syria's HTS foreign minister Asaad al-Shaibani.

Zionist regime has repeatedly conducted aggressive operations across Syrian territory following the collapse of former President Bashar al-Assad's government late last year.

Netanyahu has ordered his forces to advance further into Syrian territory, targeting the acquisition of several strategically significant locations in the area.

Zionist regime has intensified its presence in Syria by taking control of the buffer zone that divides the occupied Golan Heights from the broader Syrian territory, thereby violating the provisions outlined in the 1974 disengagement agreement.

Analysts caution that the HTS regime's silence, combined with its steps toward normalization with Tel Aviv, has encouraged the Israeli regime to escalate its territorial occupation in Syria and increase its airstrikes on the area.