Netanyahu: No Syrian forces are to head south of Damascus, which is an area that must be demilitarized

A day after ordering extensive Israeli attacks on Syrian government and military assets, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel will continue to use military means to enforce its two red lines in Syria.

“We have set a clear policy,” he says 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,” says Netanyahu.

He says that the Ahmed al-Sharaa regime in Syria 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 says 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,” promises Netanyahu.