Protests erupted across southern Syria in response, with civilians condemning Netanyahu’s remarks as interference in Syrian sovereignty. Demonstrators called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the buffer zone along the Syrian border and rejected any foreign military presence in the region.

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”

Israel won’t allow forces of the new Syrian administration to enter territory south of Damascus, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, lifting the veil on Israel’s long-term plans for its northern neighbor after the fall of the Bashar Al-Assad regime.

PM Netanyahu has demanded the ‘full demilitarisation’ of southern Syria, where Israel has illegally expanded its forces.

Israel’s defense ministry says the military has been instructed to prepare to defend a Druze settlement in the suburbs of Damascus in neighboring Syria

Instruction comes as new Syrian government authorities clash with local Druze gunmen in Jaramana, just outside capital The post Netanyahu and Katz direct IDF to ‘prepare to defend’ Syrian Druze suburb of Damascus appeared first on The Times of Israel.