Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Thursday hailed U.S., Arab and Turkish mediation for saving the region from an "unknown fate", while criticizing Israel for targeting civilian and government facilities.

"The Israeli entity resorted to a wide-scale targeting of civilian and government facilities," he said in a televised address.

A French court Thursday ordered the release of pro-Palestinian Lebanese militant Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, who has been imprisoned for 40 years for the 1982 killings of two foreign diplomats.

Abdallah, 74, was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for his involvement in the murders of US military attache Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov. He is one of the longest serving prisoners in France.

The United States' special envoy for Syria on Wednesday called on all parties to step back and engage in dialogue for a lasting ceasefire in Syria following clashes with Druze factions in the south and Israeli strikes in Damascus.

"We unequivocally condemn violence against civilians in Sweida... All parties must step back and engage in meaningful dialogue that leads to a lasting ceasefire," Tom Barrack said on X, adding that "perpetrators need to be held accountable".

The Syrian presidency vowed to punish those who committed violations against Druze-majority Sweida's residents, as government forces were accused of summary executions and other abuses by right groups, witnesses and local factions.

In a statement, the presidency said they "strongly condemn these heinous acts and affirm our full commitment to investigating all related incidents and punishing all those proven to be involved".

The Israeli military said Wednesday it was working to stop people crossing from Syria, after deadly unrest between Druze and Bedouin fighters.

"A short while ago, (Israeli) troops identified dozens of suspects attempting to infiltrate Israeli territory from the area of Hader in Syria," a statement said, adding that soldiers and border police were "operating to prevent the infiltration".

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that Israel's attacks during last month's 12-day war were intended to weaken the Islamic republic's system and spark unrest to topple it.

"The calculation and plan of the aggressors was to weaken the system by targeting certain figures and sensitive centers in Iran," said Khamenei in a statement published on his website. He said the move was meant to stir "unrest and bring people into the streets to overthrow the system."

A senior Hamas official on Wednesday rejected claims of progress in Gaza ceasefire talks, adding the Palestinian militant group had not received maps planning for Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territory.

"(Israel) has not yet delivered any new or revised maps regarding military withdrawals from the Gaza Strip," Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas political bureau, told AFP, accusing Israel of wanting to "prolong military control" in Gaza for the long term.

Syria state media said that the Israeli military struck the Druze-majority city of Sweida, where Syrian government forces have deployed despite Israeli warnings.

"Israeli occupation drones target the city of Sweida," state-run SANA said.

Hezbollah condemned an Israeli air strike that killed 12 people in the Bekaa Valley on Tuesday, as a "major escalation".

In a statement, the group said Israel's attack "constitutes a major escalation in the context of the ongoing aggression against Lebanon and its people". It called on Lebanese authorities to "take serious, immediate, and decisive action" to uphold a November ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

The Kremlin warned Tuesday that US President Donald Trump's pledge of more weapons for Kyiv and threat of sanctions targeting Russian trading partners could embolden Ukraine and further delay already stalled peace efforts.