Syria’s new leader said on Saturday that Israel’s “excuses” had run out for striking the deposed Assad regime’s military infrastructure, as well as for deploying troops to several demilitarized zones in the Syrian Golan Heights.

“Excuses have run out, and they have crossed the lines of engagement,” said head of the Syrian Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Ahmad al-Sharaa, better known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Julani.

Although reports conflicted as to whether he mentioned Israel by name, it was clear that al-Julani’s statements to Syrian state media were aimed at Jerusalem, noting that his group’s sovereignty over most of Syria has ended Iranian intervention in the country and that it is not seeking further conflict.