Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is demanding demilitarization of areas south of the Syrian capital Damascus, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
He told graduating military academy cadets that he wants the provinces of Quneitra, Daraa and Sweida to be demilitarized, the Times of Israel newspaper reported. Neither the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) nor the Syrian army should be deployed there, the prime minister said.
A rebel coalition led by HTS toppled long-time Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December last year. Since then, the Israeli military has significantly expanded its military operations in Syrian territory.
Netanyahu said that Israeli troops would remain on Mount Hermon and in the Golan Heights buffer zone "for an indefinite period of time."
The current demilitarized buffer zone is monitored by the United Nations and is located between the Syrian Golan Heights, which Israel has occupied since 1967, and the rest of Syria.
Syria has been demanding the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
According to the newspaper, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told officers that the Israeli army had currently established nine positions on Syrian territory. Two are on Mount Hermon and seven in the buffer zone.
The armed forces must remain indefinitely in these positions, which serve as “defense against any challenge“, Katz said.
Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has received an invitation from his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to attend an emergency summit of the Arab League in Cairo on March 4, the Syrian presidency said in a statement, Reuters reported.
The agency notes that this marks an important step in rebuilding Damascus's ties with the Arab world after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad.
Al-Sharaa, whose group “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham“ (HTS) led the offensive that toppled Assad in December, was declared interim head of state last month.
Since taking power, al-Sharaa has sought to strengthen ties with Arab nations, promising a political transition that includes the formation of an inclusive government and eventual elections that he said could take up to four years to organize.
Egypt, which views the Islamists as an existential threat, has been cautious since al-Sharaa took office, with officials in Cairo saying Syria's new administration must embrace an inclusive political transition free from "external interference."
The upcoming Cairo meeting will focus mainly on Arab efforts to oppose U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to turn the war-torn Gaza Strip into an international beach resort and his calls for Egypt and Jordan to accept displaced residents of the enclave.
The Palestinian movement „Hamas“ will not negotiate with Israel through mediators on any new measures within the framework of the fragile ceasefire unless Palestinian prisoners are released according to the agreements reached so far, the organization's representative Bassem Naim told Reuters.
Israel said on Monday it was delaying the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners it had planned to free a day earlier until „Hamas“ meets certain conditions.
The White House said it supported Israel's decision to postpone the release of Palestinian prisoners, citing „Hamas“s „barbaric treatment“ of Israeli hostages.
The postponement of the release of the prisoners is an „appropriate response“ the Palestinian armed group's treatment of the hostages, National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said in a statement.
President Donald Trump is ready to support Israel in “whatever course of action it chooses with regard to “Hamas”, he added.