 Russia warns Israel about attacks on Syria, spreading conflict to their countries in the Middle East is unacceptable, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, while discussing a spate of recent Israeli airstrikes with his Syrian counterpart. Lavrov brought up the issue of Israeli airstrikes, which have become more frequent against the backdrop of events around the Gaza Strip, during a phone call with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad. The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a readout of the call, both ministers emphasized the danger of attempts by external forces to turn the Middle East, in its current explosive situation, into an arena for settling geopolitical scores, the readout added. Mekdad phoned Lavrov to discuss the situation in Gaza as well as a number of bilateral issues and the progress in ending the war in Syria. Since the Hamas incursion from Gaza on October 7, Israel has bombed Syria at least three times, repeatedly shutting down the airports in Aleppo and Damascus. One of these attacks was acknowledged by the Israeli Ambassador to Germany, who said it was intended to disrupt weapons deliveries from Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once said there have been hundreds of strikes on Syria over the past decade. On the rare occasions when the Israel Defence Forces comments on the attacks, it claims to have acted in pre-emptive self-defense against Iran, accusing Tehran of supplying Hezbollah militants.