Israel PM demands 'complete demilitarisation' of southern Syria
"We will not allow forces from the HTS organisation or the new Syrian army to enter the area south of Damascus
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that southern Syria must be completely demilitarised, warning that Israel would not accept the presence of the forces of Damascus's Islamist-led government near its territory.
"We will not allow forces from the HTS organisation or the new Syrian army to enter the area south of Damascus," Netanyahu said, referring to Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham which spearheaded the offensive that toppled Bashar al-Assad in December.
"We demand the complete demilitarisation of southern Syria, including the Quneitra, Daraa and Suwayda provinces," the Israeli prime minister declared at a military ceremony.
The same day Assad was ousted, Israel announced that its troops were entering a UN-patrolled buffer zone that has separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the strategic Golan Heights since 1974.
Israel seized much of the Golan Heights from Syria in a war in 1967, later annexing the area in a move largely unrecognised by the international community.
Netanyahu said that Israeli forces will remain in the buffer zone "for an indefinite period to protect our communities and thwart any threat".
Israel carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria during its civil war which broke out in 2011, mainly on Iranian-linked targets.
After the lightning offensive that ousted Syria's longtime president Assad, Israel carried out hundreds more air strikes on Syrian military assets in what it said was a bid to prevent them from falling into hostile hands.
