Katz orders IDF to complete seizure of Syrian buffer zone, continue destroying Assad’s ‘strategic weapons’

Defense Minister Israel Katz has ordered the IDF to complete control over the buffer Zone between Israel and Syria, after the IDF began its deployment there yesterday.

In a statement, Katz says he also ordered the military to create a “security zone free of heavy strategic weapons and terror infrastructure” in southern Syria, including beyond the buffer zone, that could pose a threat to Israel.

Alongside side that, Katz instructed the military to establish contacts with the Druze community and other populations in southern Syria.

Additionally, Katz says he has instructed the IDF to “immediately prevent and thwart the renewal of the arms smuggling route from Iran to Lebanon through Syria, in Syrian territory and at the border crossing points.”

Lastly, Katz instructs the military to continue to destroy “strategic weapons” in Syria that Israel fears could fall into the hands of hostile forces, including “surface-to-air missiles, air defense systems, surface-to-surface missiles, cruise missiles, long-range rockets, and coast-to-sea missiles.”