Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Thursday accused Turkey of playing a “negative role” in multiple regional countries and adopting an 'aggressive attitude' toward the Kurdish administration in northeastern Syria (Rojava).

Israel stepped up airstrikes on Syria, declaring the attacks a warning to the new Islamist rulers in Damascus as it accused their ally Turkey on Thursday of trying to turn the country into a Turkish protectorate.

Syria’s foreign ministry described Israel’s attacks on five locations across the country as an ‘unjustified escalation’.