Shafaq News/ The United Nations Security Council has approved a statement drafted by Russia and the United States condemning the widespread violence in western Syria’s coastal region, diplomats said on Thursday.

According to Arab and international media outlets, the diplomats indicated that the statement—denouncing the extensive violence in Latakia and Tartus—will be officially adopted later on Friday during an open Security Council session. It calls for:

-The interim Syrian authorities to protect all Syrians, regardless of ethnicity or religion, safeguard the country’s civilian infrastructure, and hold accountable those responsible for mass killings.

-All states to respect Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and refrain from any actions that could destabilize the country.

The statement did not name any specific countries. However, since Bashar A-Assad's ouster in December, Israel has conducted extensive airstrikes on Syrian military bases and deployed forces into a UN-monitored demilitarized zone inside Syria, calling it a “defensive and open-ended measure.”

At least 1,383 civilians, the vast majority of whom were Alawites, had been killed in the violence that erupted in the coastal region since March 6, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Wednesday.

In response, Syria’s transitional President, Ahmad Al-Sharaa, who described the coastal events as a “threat to his mission” to unify the country, announced the formation of an independent national committee to investigate and document the incidents, with a report due to the presidency within 30 days.