Tribes of south Syria reject Netanyahu’s ‘aggressive’ call for ‘demilitarization’
Israel’s prime minister said Tel Aviv will not allow any government forces or armed presence in the areas of Syria that it has illegally occupied
Syrian tribes in southern Syria announced on 24 February their rejection of the “aggressive statements” made by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a day earlier demanding “demilitarization” of the region.
“We, the sons of the clans of southern Syria, follow with full awareness and responsibility the aggressive statements issued by … Netanyahu, which target the unity of Syria, its land and people, and seek to spread discord among its components,” the statement read.
It also rejected “any form of Zionist interference in Syrian affairs” and affirmed “absolute loyalty to the unified Syrian state,” calling for “national solidarity among all components” of the Syrian people.
The statement stressed “full Syrian sovereignty over all its territories, including the occupied Golan, and considering the Israeli occupation of Arab lands an illegal act that will not be changed by the passage of time.”
“We, in the tribes of southern Syria, affirm that the attempts of Netanyahu and his ilk to incite sedition will not pass, and that we are an integral part of a unified Syria, rejecting any external agenda aimed at undermining our unity. We will remain faithful to our land, adhering to our national decision, and defending our Syrian identity with all our strength,” the tribes added.
The statement came as protests erupted in southern Syria's Quneitra against the Israeli occupation in the country.
A day earlier, Netanyahu demanded on 23 February the "complete demilitarization of southern Syria" and said Israel would not allow the new government to deploy its forces south of Damascus.
“We will not allow forces from the HTS organization or the new Syrian army to enter the area south of Damascus,” Netanyahu said, referring to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) forces, the former Al-Qaeda branch in Syria that toppled the government of former president Bashar al-Assad.
“We demand the complete demilitarization of southern Syria,” Netanyahu added while speaking at a ceremony for combat officers in central Israel.
Israeli occupation forces swept across southern Syria after the fall of Assad’s government in December last year, moving past the demilitarized zone and expanding their decades-long illegal occupation in the country.
Tel Aviv has since continued to expand its occupation in Syria and has begun building at least seven permanent military sites in the southern region of the country. Israel has said its occupation in Syria will be indefinite.
In the first weeks of Israel’s incursions into the south – which included a widespread campaign of airstrikes to destroy military infrastructure of the former Syrian state – Israeli troops besieged a number of towns and villages and demanded the surrenderof all weapons.
A dialogue session held in southern Syria's Quneitra governorate on 22 February stressed the need to preserve the unity of the country, liberate the occupied Golan Heights from Israel, and resist Israeli incursions into additional Syrian territory.
A newly formed Syrian resistance faction, calling itself the Islamic Resistance Front in Syria (IRFS), claimed responsibility for a shooting attack on 31 January against occupation forces in Quneitra.