Damascus, Syria - Ahmed al-Sharaa, the Syrian rebel leader formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani who led the lightning offensive that toppled Bashir al-Assad's regime, denounced Israel's aggressions in Syria for the first time Saturday.

Since al-Sharaa's group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), dramatically took over last week, Israeli warplanes have pummeled Syria with hundreds of airstrikes and troops have invaded its territory.

"The Israelis have clearly crossed the engagement lines in Syria in a way that threatens an unjustified escalation in the region," Al-Sharaa was quoted as telling Syria TV.

"The Israeli pretexts have become flimsy and do not justify recent transgressions."

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In a long post on its Telegram channel, the Israeli army's Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi said the main reason for the havoc wreaked across Syria over the past week "is the security of the country" – a justification Israel has used to commit genocide in Gaza, kill thousands in Lebanon, and bomb several other countries in the Middle East.

But Al-Sharaa stressed that he was not interested in further conflict.

"The priority at this stage is rebuilding and stability, not getting dragged into conflicts that may lead to further destruction," he said, according to Syria TV.

Al-Sharaa also insisted that Russia, which was Assad's main backer, has the chance to "re-evaluate" its relation with Syria and that the new rulers are not hostile to the Iranians, despite their years-long support of the previous regime.

"We were able to end the Iranian presence in Syria, but we are not hostile to the Iranian people. Our problem was with the policies that harmed our country," he said.