Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will not allow Syria’s new army or the insurgent group that led the ouster of former President Bashar Assad to “enter the area south of Damascus” as his government made clear Israeli forces would stay in parts of southern Syria for an indefinite period.

In an address Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Syria’s new rulers should demilitarize the Quneitra, Daraa and Suwayda provinces.

Katz said Israeli forces will be deployed in southern Syria indefinitely in order to reinforce defensive and offensive capabilities against any threats to Israel. Israel sent troops into the 235 sq km buffer zone to prevent Syrian rebels from approaching the border when the Turkish-backed Islamist rebels toppled the government of [former] President Bashar al-Assad late last year.

People take part in a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks on demilitarization of southern Syria, outside the United Nations office in Damascus, Syria, on Feb. 25, 2025.

DAMASCUS - Israeli warplanes hit a town south of Syria's capital as well as the southern province of Daraa late on Tuesday, residents, security sources and local broadcaster Syria TV said. Read more at straitstimes.

Hundreds protested the remarks as a prelude to ‘dividing Syria,’ while some welcomed ‘any helping hand for the Druze community.’