Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will not allow Syria’s new army or the insurgent group that led the ouster of former President Bashar Assad to “enter the area south of Damascus”

In an address Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Syria’s new rulers should demilitarize the Quneitra, Daraa and Suwayda provinces.

Netanyahu says Israel will not allow Syria’s new army or the insurgent group that led the ouster of former President Bashar Assad to “enter the area south of Damascus.”

Speaking to cadets graduating from the IDF Ground Forces combat officers course, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warns that Israel is “ready to return at any moment to intensive combat. The operational plans are ready.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for the demilitarization of southern Syria and protection for its Druze community on Sunday, the first time he has publicly called for this since the collapse of Bashar Assad’s regime in December.

The IDF has evacuated about 40,000 Palestinians from the northern West Bank since January 21, the most in decades, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Sunday. It was a stunning admission given that the IDF has repeatedly denied reports attesting to that by The New York Times and CNN in recent weeks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that southern Syria must remain “demilitarized” and that Israel will not allow Syrian forces to be present in the region. He emphasized that Israel would not tolerate the presence of groups like Hayat Tahrir al-Sham or any forces aligned with the new Syrian government in southern Syria.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly called for the demilitarization of areas south of the Syrian capital Damascus. Netanyahu told graduating officer cadets he wanted the provinces of Kuneitra,