Illustrative image. (Israeli Defense Forces)
Israel is strengthening its forces on the front with Syria and had given the country’s Islamist-led government an ultimatum to withdraw all forces from the southern governorate of Daraa within a few weeks, the Al-Arabiya TV reported on July 17.
The report came just hours after the withdrawal of all government forces from the governorate of al-Suwayda, adjacent to Daraa, where a fierce battle took place over the past four days, with Israel launching strikes in support of local Druze fighters. The intervention dealt a blow for the government, which was blamed for a wide range of war crimes targeting Druze civilians in al-Suwayda, including dozens of executions.
Israel had vowed to protect the Druze following the fall of the regime of former President Bashar Al-Assad last December, citing historic relations with its own Druze community.
Citing a statement by an Israeli official published by Hebrew media, Al-Arabiya reported the Defense Forces had given its Syrian counterpart a few weeks to withdraw its forces and weapons from Daraa.
The official also confirmed that Israel is committed to its demand for demilitarization in southern Syria, including Daraa, according to the Saudi-owned news channel.
Following the release of the report, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel will continue to use military means to enforce its two red lines in Syria.
“We have set a clear policy,” Netanyahu said in a video statement, “demilitarizing the area south of Damascus, from the Golan Heights to the Druze mountains, is one [red] line. The second line [is] protecting the brothers of our brothers, the Druze in the Druze mountains.”
“We will not allow military forces to descend south of Damascus, we will not allow the Druze to be harmed in Jebel Druze,” the primer added.
Netanyahu also said that the regime of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa violated both those red lines: “It sent an army south of Damascus, into the area that should be demilitarized, and it began to massacre the Druze. We could not accept this in any way.”
He noted that the ceasefire Sharaa announced in Syria, which included the withdrawal of Syrian troops, “was achieved through force. Not through requests, not through pleas — through force. ”
“We acted, and we will continue to act as necessary,” Netanyahu vowed.
Syrian government forces have reportedly lost as many as 500–700 troops in the attack on al-Suwayda. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based monitoring group, also reported that at least 83 Druze civilians were executed by government troops during the battle. The real toll is expected to be much higher.
The battle in al-Suwayda is not over yet, however. Just a few hours after Netanyah’s statement, Reuters reported that Sunni tribesmen have launched a new offensive against the Druze in the governorate. A tribal commander told the news agency that the ceasefire only applies to government forces and not to them, and claimed that his fighters are seeking to free tribesmen detained by the Druze in recent days.
Overall, the battle in southern Syria is clearly not over yet. Further Israeli intervention is not likely as of now, but could happen if the government was to back another move against the Druze in al-Suwayda. Still, Israel will not likely work to completely overthrow the regime of Sharaa, as they are currently engaged in peace talks.
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is there ever a day when they aren’t bombing another country?
‘syrian government forces have reportedly lost as many as 500–700 troops’ let me rephrase this ‘hts terrorists reportedly lost as many as 500–700 jihadists’
israel wants a demilitarized zone now so that they can invade easily later.
i wish putin were smarter and had more guts than bebe netanyahu, but it seems putin is half the man bebe is.
soon, the israelis will fill the power vacuum in southern syria and occupy even more of it. greater israel is the zionists’ goal.
it will be over soon , al jew-lanis mossad agent career is saved .. and his al qaida commanders will now accept when he starts to act as israels puppet