Syrian forces won’t be allowed south of Damascus: Netanyahu
Forces of the newly established Syrian army will not be allowed to move into territory south of the capital Damascus, the Israeli prime minister says.
Israeli soldiers will remain on Mount Hermon and in a buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights for “an unlimited period of time”, PM Benjamin Netanyahu added. He also demanded the “full demilitarisation of southern Syria from troops of the new Syrian regime”.
Israel and Syria struck a ceasefire agreement in 1974 that determined the Golan Heights would be a demilitarised buffer zone. But shortly after the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Israeli military moved into the buffer zone.
Israeli forces established two posts on Mount Hermon and seven others in the buffer zone, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said.
Syria leader invited to Arab League summit on Gaza
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa received an invitation to attend an Egyptian-hosted Arab League meeting on Gaza on March 4 in Cairo.
“The president of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr Ahmed al-Sharaa, received an official invitation from the president of the Arab Republic of Egypt… to participate in the extraordinary Arab League summit,” Syria’s presidency said in a statement.
The meeting was called in response to a widely criticised Gaza takeover plan by US President Donald Trump.
Al-Sharaa has called Trump’s plan “a very huge crime that cannot happen”.
‘Unacceptable’: Turkiye’s leader denounces Gaza displacement plan
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his French counterpart the plan by US President Donald Trump to relocate Palestinians to Egypt, Jordan, or any other third country is completely “unacceptable”.
Erdogan reiterated the rejection of the plan to displace Palestinians during a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, said the country’s communications directorate.
On Friday, the leaders of seven Arab countries held talks in Saudi Arabia to respond to a plan raised by Trump for the United States to “take over” Gaza, permanently forcibly displace its residents, and turn the Palestinian enclave into the “Riviera” of the Middle East.
