UNITED NATIONS/LATAKIA, Syria — China hopes Syria will achieve peace and restore stability as soon as possible, and stands ready to play a constructive role to that end, a Chinese envoy says.

"Recently, the situation in Syria has undergone drastic changes, to which China pays great attention," Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, said at a UN Security Council briefing on Syria on Tuesday.

"It is imperative to stabilize the security situation," Geng said, calling on all parties concerned in Syria to exercise calm and restraint, refrain from actions that may escalate the situation, and prevent new conflicts.

The ambassador urged all parties to take measures to prohibit attacks against civilians and protect the security of diplomatic missions and foreign nationals in the country.

"We hope that Syria's state institutions will remain operational to create conditions for the restoration of social order" and that "countries with influence, especially regional countries, will play a constructive role in stabilizing the situation in Syria", he said.

Geng also expressed "grave concerns" over Israel's recent continued airstrikes against Syria and its entry into the demilitarized buffer zone in the Golan Heights, where it claimed to expand settlements, calling on Israel to stop these actions.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a security briefing on Tuesday on Mount Hermon, Syria's highest peak, one of the areas of the buffer zone that Israel seized this month.

Netanyahu visited "outposts at the summit of Mount Hermon for the first time since they were seized by the military", Katz's office said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the Israeli move to seize the buffer zone was a violation of the 1974 armistice that set up the zone to separate Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights following the previous year's war.

Geng reiterated that China has long pursued a policy of friendship and cooperation with Syria, not interfering in Syria's internal affairs, and respecting the choice of the Syrian people.

Voicing his sincere expectation that Syria will achieve peace and restore stability as soon as possible, Geng said China is "ready to play a constructive role to that end".

The long-term solution is to promote a political settlement, he said, noting that China supports Syria in implementing UN Security Council Resolution 2254, advancing its domestic political process in line with the Syrian-led and Syrian-owned principles, and finding a national reconstruction plan through inclusive dialogue.

"The will of the Syrian people should be respected to avoid national division and fragmentation of the domestic situation," he said, adding that China supports the active mediation role of the UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen in facilitating dialogue among all parties.

Furthermore, Geng said the clear bottom line is the fight against terrorism, urging Syria to stand firm against any form of terrorism and extremist forces. "The Syrian territory must not be used to support terrorism or threaten the security of other countries."

As the drastic changes in Syria have exacerbated the already dire humanitarian crisis across the country, Geng called on all parties to ensure unimpeded humanitarian access and facilitate the humanitarian operations of UN agencies, urging the relevant country to immediately lift the unilateral sanctions imposed on Syria.

Xinhua - Agencies