Netanyahu: Syrian forces will not be allowed south of Damascus

Israel will not accept the presence of forces from Syria's newly established army in the southern outskirts of the capital, Damascus, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Israeli soldiers, he added, will remain on Mount Hermon and in a buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights for “an unlimited period of time”. He also demanded the “full demilitarisation of southern Syria from troops of the new Syrian regime”.

Israel and Syria signed a ceasefire agreement in 1974, designating the Golan Heights as a demilitarised buffer zone. However, on the same day that former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was ousted, Israel announced that its troops were moving into a UN-patrolled buffer zone, which has separated Israeli and Syrian forces in the occupied Golan Heights since 1974.