Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres hold a press conference at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem on August 28, 2017. (AFP Photo)

JERUSALEM, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Iran is building military bases in Syria, with a goal of using them against the Jewish state.

Speaking at the start of a meeting in Jerusalem with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Netanyahu accused Iran of turning Syria into a "base of military entrenchment as part of its declared goal to eradicate Israel."

"It is also building sites to produce precision-guided missiles towards that end, in both Syria and in Lebanon. This is something Israel cannot accept. This is something the UN should not accept," Netanyahu said, according to a statement released on his behalf.

The statement did not elaborate on Guterres' response.

Iran, Israel's archfoe, has been combating along President Bashar Assad's army.

The UN chief is on a three-day trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories. After arriving on Sunday evening, he met Jason Greenblatt, a top aide to U.S. President Donald Trump charged with pursuing Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

Peace efforts have been at a standstill since April 2014 and Israeli settlement building in the occupied West Bank has continued.

The two-state solution envisions an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel and has been the focus of international diplomacy.