‘You Have No Business Here’ Syrians Tell Netanyahu

Hundreds of Syrians demonstrated in the southern Daraa province on Tuesday against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call for the demilitarization of southern Syria.

Protesters gathered in the March 18 Square in Daraa city, calling Netanyahu’s comments a “blatant interference” in Syria’s internal affairs, according to an Anadolu correspondent.

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Israeli drones were seen flying over the area during the protest.

On Sunday, Netanyahu called for the complete demilitarization of southern Syria in the provinces of Quneitra, Daraa and Suweyda from the forces of the new Syrian army.

“We will not tolerate any threat to the Druze community in southern Syria,” he claimed, saying that the Israeli army will stay in Syria’s buffer zone and the Syrian Hermon Mount “Jabal al-Sheikh” for “an unlimited period of time.”

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After the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone, a move that violated the 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria.

Israel’s recent military advances in the Golan Heights, which it has occupied since 1967, have drawn condemnation from the United Nations and several Arab nations.

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Israel Nervous Over Syria

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he ordered the occupation army to establish a buffer zone in the Syrian’s Golan Heights after Syrian soldiers abandoned their positions following the fall of Assad’s regime.

Netanyahu said that the disengagement agreement signed with Syria in 1974 had collapsed, and added, “We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our borders.”

After the Netanyahu order, Israeli army warned Syrians living in five villages all close to the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights to “stay home”.

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Israel Bombs 10 Military Sites in Syria

Israel has conducted strikes on 10 arms depots and military facilities in areas of Syria controlled by groups that overthrew the 61-year Baath regime.

According to information obtained by Anadolu from opposition-affiliated air monitoring officials, Israeli warplanes targeted Damascus’ Mezzeh Military Airport, Quneitra Gara, Minket al-Hadab, Damascus Security Zone, Quneitra Tel al-Sham, Damascus Military Science Center, Tel Aqrabeh in the countryside of Daraa, Kalkaleh Military Base, Tel al-Talib in Daraa, and various sites in the town of Ghita.

The targeted locations are known to house strategic military facilities and weapons depots.

“Israeli forces have recently targeted munitions posing a threat to Israel and Syrian air defense systems at risk of being captured by rebels,” Israeli daily Haaretz quoted sources in the Israeli military as saying.

According to the sources, the collapse of the Syrian army could allow armed groups to enter the buffer zone on the Israeli border.

As a result, Israeli forces have been deployed to the area, preparing for scenarios where reserve forces might be needed.

Israeli military perceives ‘threats’ from groups in Syria

According to Israeli State Television KAN, the Israeli military confirmed its occupation of Mount Hermon (Sheikh Mountain) on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.

It said that air force units seized the Syrian side of Sheikh Mountain to strengthen defensive positions against “potential threats” from groups that toppled the Baath regime.

The operation reportedly began after these groups started capturing Syrian military positions near the Israeli border.

After a period of relative calm, clashes between Assad regime forces and anti-regime groups reignited on Nov. 27 in rural areas west of Aleppo, a major city in northern Syria.

Over 10 days, opposition forces launched a lightning offensive, capturing key cities and then, on Sunday, the capital Damascus. The rapid advance, supported by defecting military units, led to the collapse of the Assad regime after 13 years of civil war.

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