Germany on Monday urged Israel to "abandon" a plan to double the population living in the occupied and annexed Golan Heights at the southwestern edge of Syria.
A foreign ministry spokesman said "it is perfectly clear under international law that this area controlled by Israel belongs to Syria and that Israel is therefore an occupying power".
The spokesman, Christian Wagner, added that Berlin therefore called on its ally Israel "to abandon this plan" announced Sunday by the Israeli government.
As Islamist-led rebel forces swept Syrian president Bashar al-Assad from power last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered troops to seize the demilitarised zone on the Golan Heights.
Israel has also launched hundreds of strikes on Syria targeting strategic military sites and weapons, including chemical weapons.
Wagner said that "it is absolutely crucial now, in this phase of political upheaval in Syria, that all actors in the region take into account the territorial integrity of Syria and do not call it into question".
Speaking at a regular press conference, he added that the situation is "complex" and that Israel had an interest to ensure that the Assad regime's weapons "do not fall into the wrong hands".
But he stressed that Germany was "now calling on all actors in the region to exercise restraint" and that war-ravaged "Syria has been a plaything of foreign powers for far too long".
AFP
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