Ahmed Al-Sharaa: We are not afraid of war, but we have chosen to protect the homeland.

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa said in a speech early Thursday morning following the announcement of the truce agreement in Sweida that "Israel sought to undermine the ceasefire had it not been for American, Arab, and Turkish mediation."

Al-Sharaa added in his speech that "since the fall of the former regime, the Israeli entity has been seeking to turn our land into a land of conflict and to dismantle our people," stressing that "there is no room for the ambitions of others on our land, and we will restore Syria's prestige, and we must prioritize the national interest."

Regarding the Israeli bombing of Damascus and other areas in Syria on Wednesday, the Syrian president said, "We were faced with the choice between war with Israel or allowing the Druze sheikhs to reach an agreement, so we chose to protect the homeland."

In this context, he said, "We are not people who fear war, but we prioritized the interests of the people over chaos, and our best option was to protect the unity of the nation. The Syrian state, with all its institutions, intervened to stop the internal fighting in Sweida and succeeded in maintaining security."

Regarding the agreement with the Druze elders, Sharaa said, "We have decided to assign some local factions and elders to restore security. Our Druze are an essential part of the nation's fabric, and protecting them is a priority for us."

He stressed that "Syrians, with their long history, have rejected all forms of partition. We are the sons of this land and the most capable of overcoming the Israeli entity's attempts to tear us apart. Syria is not a testing ground for foreign conspiracies and the ambitions of others. Building a new Syria requires us to focus on our country."

On Wednesday, Israel launched a series of airstrikes on sites in Sweida and Damascus. The Israeli Air Force targeted the General Staff building, the Ministry of Defense, and the vicinity of the presidential palace. Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz announced that the warning messages to Damascus had ended and threatened what he called "painful strikes."