Israel says it is conducting strikes in southern Syria

Israel confirmed it is conducting strikes in southern Syria, as the new Syrian government calls for the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Syrian territory.

NOTE: The video is from a previous report.

"We will not allow southern Syria to become southern Lebanon," Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said regarding the strikes. "Any attempt by the Syrian regime forces and the country's terrorist organizations to establish themselves in the security zone in southern Syria will be met with fire."

Katz said the Israeli Air Force is "now attacking strongly in southern Syria as part of the new policy we have defined of pacifying southern Syria."

"We will not endanger the security of our citizens," he said.

Israel confirmed the strikes after Syrian state media reported several aircraft strikes near Damascus.

Israeli forces have been occupying the demilitarized buffer zone on Syria's border since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime in December 2024.

Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu has signaled that Israeli forces will remain in the buffer zone, which separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria, for some time.

Earlier this week, during remarks at a military graduation, Netanyahu vowed that Israel will not allow Syria's new army or the rebel group that toppled the Assad regime to "enter the area south of Damascus," The Associated Press reported.

Earlier Tuesday, the new Syrian government called for the "immediate and immediate and unconditional withdrawal" of Israeli forces from Syria, condemning the presence as a "flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the Syrian state."

Katz said last week that IDF troops will also remain in some areas of southern Lebanon, past the deadline for total withdrawal as outlined in its ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, to "ensure the protection of all Israeli communities and deterrence against threats from Lebanon."