Netanyahu: Israel to ‘intensify’ action in Syria following US pullout

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the IDF will “intensify” its activity in Syria to prevent Iranian entrenchment following the withdrawal of American forces from the country.

Netanyahu is speaking at a joint summit with the leaders of Greece and Cyprus, a day after US President Donald Trump announced his decision to withdraw American troops from Syria.

Netanyahu says Israel will “continue to act very aggressively against Iran’s attempts to entrench in Syria,” adding that it will do so with “complete support and backing from the United States.”

Israel has clandestinely carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria over the course of the seven-year civil war to prevent Iranian entrenchment near the border and to keep strategic weaponry from reaching Hezbollah in Lebanon.

— AP