Cairo/Baghdad, May 3 (UNI) The Arab League condemned on Friday the Israeli airstrikes on targets near the presidential palace in the Syrian capital Damascus.

The pan-Arab organization said in a statement that these airstrikes represent "a dangerous escalation and a rejected and condemned violation of Syria's sovereignty."

It added that these airstrikes aimed at destabilizing the situation, interfering in internal affairs, and encroaching on Syrian territory.

The Arab League called on the UN Security Council to put an end to these Israeli attacks, which threaten to "ignite the situation in the region."

Iraq also condemned the Israeli strike on Friday.

Iraq's Foreign Ministry affirmed in a statement its "categorical rejection of all repeated Israeli attacks that violate Syria's sovereignty and threaten its security and stability."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed in a joint statement earlier in the day that Israel attacked overnight near the presidential palace in Damascus.

The strike followed the deadly clashes that intensified earlier this week between local Druze fighters and pro-government forces south of Damascus, which, according to the war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, have claimed over 100 lives.

The Israeli statement called the strike "a clear message to the Syrian regime," saying that Israel "will not allow the move of forces south of Damascus and any danger to the Druze community."

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