British Ambassador to Syria Jonathan Hargreaves said “Israeli raids against Iranian targets in Syria a few weeks ago are probably the only effective measure in Syria.” Axios said Hargreaves’ statement came during a meeting with Israeli officials in Jerusalem in June.

Israeli Foreign Ministry officials reviewing a summary of the meeting told the website that “Hargreaves, in closed talks, praised the Israeli raids in Syria and said that the UK and other Western countries depend on some of their policies following the ‘Israeli campaigns in Syria.

For his part, a senior British diplomat confirmed to Axios that “the British embassy staff and those present at the meeting make no mention of Hargreaves praising the Israeli raids.”

The website states: “Hargreaves said the preparation of a conference for the Syrian opposition to have a political dialogue with the regime is one of the most important reasons for emphasizing the importance of continuing the political process, but at the same time he expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the step-by-step plan adopted by the special envoy UN on Syria, which is not Pederson.”

Notably, since the start of the war in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria against government and Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah targets. Israel rarely confirms that it has carried out strikes in Syria, but reiterates that it will continue to resist what it describes as attempts by Iran to establish its military presence in Syria.