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”

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.

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.

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

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would not allow forces of the new Syrian army to enter areas south of Damascus. “We demand the full demilitarization of southern Syria,” he said.

The Israeli Army has carried out military strikes on southern Syria, days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called to demilitarise the area. Two people were killed after bombing on a military unit close to the capital city of Damascus.

Israeli warplanes late Tuesday struck military sites in southern Syria, the Israel Defense Forces said, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to demilitarize the border region.