UN envoy warns against Syria collapse at crisis talks
War monitor reports Israeli strikes on Syrian military sites
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A UN envoy on Saturday urged foreign powers to work to avoid a collapse of vital Syrian institutions following the downfall of leader Bashar al-Assad, as diplomats gathered in Jordan for a conference on the crisis.
Geir Pedersen, the UN's special envoy for Syria, also backed a "credible and inclusive" political process to form the next government as he met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
"We need to make sure that state institutions do not collapse, and that we get in humanitarian assistance as quickly as possible," Pedersen said.
"If we can achieve that, perhaps there is a new opportunity for the Syrian people."
Top Arab, Turkish, EU and US diplomats are holding talks in the Jordanian Red Sea resort city of Aqaba less than a week after Islamist-led rebels toppled Assad.
Blinken, on a trip in which he has met the leaders of Jordan, Turkey and Iraq, has repeatedly called for an "inclusive" process that reflects all the diverse ethnic and religious communities in Syria.
Meeting Pedersen, Blinken said that the United Nations "plays a critical role" in humanitarian assistance and protecting minorities in Syria.
More Israeli attacks military sites
A Syria war monitor said Israel launched strikes early Saturday targeting military sites in Damascus and its countryside, in the latest such raids since rebels brought down Bashar al-Assad almost a week ago.
"Israeli strikes destroyed a scientific institute" and other related military facilities in Barzeh, in northern Damascus, and targeted a "military airport" in the capital's countryside, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Strikes also targeted "Scud ballistic missile warehouses" and launchers in the Qalamun area, as well as "rockets, depots and tunnels under the mountain", according to the Britain-based Observatory, which has a network of sources inside Syria.
The Observatory said several rounds of bombardment targeted "military sites of the former regime forces, as part of destroying what is left of the future Syrian army's capabilities".
Israel air strikes on Friday targeted "a missile base at the top of Damascus's Mount Qasyun", the group said, as well as an airport in southern Sweida province and "defence and research labs in Masyaf", in Hama province.
Since Assad's fall, Israel has launched hundreds of strikes against Syrian military sites, targeting everything from chemical weapons stores to air defences.
In a move that has drawn international condemnation, Israel also seized a United Nations-patrolled buffer zone on the Syrian Golan Heights just hours after the rebels, led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, took Damascus.
On Thursday, UN chief Antonio Guterres expressed concern over "extensive violations" of Syrian sovereignty and the Israeli strikes in the country, his spokesman said.