BEIRUT, August 26. /TASS/. Damascus has the right to use any and all means to defend the country’s territory and people from Israel in conformity with international law, the Syrian foreign ministry said following the death of a Syrian national in the course of Israel’s operation in Syria’s Quneitra governorate.

"Syria strongly condemns Israel’s recent attacks on its territories <…>. Damascus views such aggressive actions as a flagrant violation of the UN Charter, international law and relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council. Such actions pose a direct threat to peace and security in the region. <…> Syria insists on its inviolable and legitimate right to defend its territory and its people by all possible means guaranteed by international law," according to the ministry’s statement posted on its Telegram channel.

The SANA news agency reported earlier that a Syrian national had been killed in an Israeli special operation force’s operation in the Taranja neighborhood some 60 kilometers from Damascus in the south of Syria’s Quneitra governorate. According to the agency, the Israeli military opened fire on residential buildings, killing one person and wounding several others. Apart from that, according to the Syrian mass media, Israeli troops staged a mop-up operation in the city of Sweida.

On August 20, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Sheibani held talks in Paris with Israeli Minister of Strategic Planning Ron Dermer. They stressed the need for developing a clear mechanism for the resumption of the 1974 agreement on the separation of Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights. On August 24, Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced that the Syrian and Israeli sides had achieved progress on the path toward bilateral security agreements. He pledged that Syria’s authorities were taking measures to stop Israeli incursions into the Daraa and Quneitra governorates.