Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday demanded that southern Syria be demilitarized, saying Israel will not accept the presence of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in southern Syria, nor of any other forces affiliated with the country’s new regime.
HTS took control of Damascus over December 7-8 ending around fifty years of rule by the Assad family, leading Netanyahu to order the IDF to enter and create a buffer zone in southern Syria.
The prime minister stated that Israel would maintain the buffer zone as long as necessary, while in the past he has said until the end of 2025, and other defense sources have said Israel could remain there for years.
Demand of full demilitarization of southern Syria
“We will not allow forces of the HTS or the new Syrian army to enter the territory south of Damascus. We demand full demilitarization of southern Syria, in the provinces of Quneitra, Daraa, and Sweida,” Netanyahu said at the same officers’ ceremony with Katz.
“And we will not tolerate any threat to the Druze sect in southern Syria,” he added.
Syria’s new ruler, Ahmer al-Sharaa, has committed multiple times to the 1974 Israel-Syria armistice while also demanding the IDF withdraw from Syria.
To date, there are signs that the EU may also pressure Israel to withdraw, but the Trump administration so far has given complete backing to Israel’s presence there.
Virtually all democratic countries are still waiting to see whether al-Sharaa will integrate more with the West and run his country democratically or whether he will lapse back into his habits from his background originally as a member of al-Qaeda.
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