DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres appealed to the international community on Saturday to support the people of Syria and criticized Israel’s actions in the country’s south as he kicked off his first visit to the Arab nation as the U.N. chief, nearly two years after the fall of Syrian strongman Bashar Assad.

Guterres ‘ visit is also the first by a U.N. secretary-general to the Syrian capital, Damascus, since 2009.

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