Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded complete demilitarization of much of southern Syria, the BBC reports. This could make conflict between Israel and the new leadership in Syria, following the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, more likely.
In a speech to Israeli military cadets on Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel would not allow Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) forces - the Islamist group that led the overthrow of Assad - nor the new Syrian army that is being formed - to "enter the area south of Damascus".
"We demand the complete demilitarization of southern Syria in the provinces of Quneitra, Daraa and Suwayda from the forces of the new regime," he added. Likewise, we will not tolerate any threat to the Druze community in southern Syria. He also said Israeli forces would remain indefinitely in the Syrian territory they seized after the fall of Assad last December - a shift in Israeli strategy. Until now, Israel has described its move to a UN-monitored demilitarized buffer zone in the Golan Heights as a temporary measure to ensure the security of Israelis on the other side. The rationale appeared to be to prevent extremist groups from moving down into the Golan Heights in the power vacuum. But Netanyahu's latest comments have made it clear that he believes the new authorities in Syria - with their jihadism - could pose a similar threat. Israel seized most of the Golan Heights from Syria during the Middle East war. since 1967 and later annexed them. The move was not internationally recognized, although the United States did in 2019.
Syria’s new interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has sought to reassure Israel that he does not want conflict and is prepared to uphold the long-standing disengagement agreement between the two countries, reached after another war in 1973.
He has also stressed that he will not allow Syria to be used as a base for attacks on Israel.
But Sharaa has also called on Israel to withdraw from the buffer zone it has seized as it tries to assert sovereignty over Syria’s entire fragmented landscape.
Netanyahu clearly does not believe these assurances.
Like much of the international community, the Israeli prime minister is waiting to see whether Sharaa makes good on his moderate, conciliatory stance in both action and words.