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The attacks in southern Syria are part of a new policy aimed at protecting what Israel calls its “security zone” in the region. Syria’s new government has condemned that policy.
Feb. 25, 2025, 8:57 p.m. ET
The Israeli military said it had struck sites in southern Syria on Tuesday, just hours after the new Syrian leadership demanded that Israel withdraw from territory it has seized since the fall of the Assad regime.
The attacks were aimed at “military targets in southern Syria, including headquarters and sites containing weapons,” the Israeli military said in a statement. It added, “The presence of military assets and forces in the southern part of Syria constitutes a threat” to Israeli citizens.
Israel Katz, the Israeli defense minister, said in a statement late on Tuesday that the attacks were part of a “new policy” of ensuring a “demilitarized southern Syria.” He added that “any attempt” by either Syrian forces or militant groups to establish a presence in what Israel has deemed its “security zone” in the region “will be met with fire.”
That policy was announced by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Sunday in a speech demanding “the complete demilitarization” of southern Syria. The speech and Israel’s actions drew the condemnation of Syria’s new government on Tuesday.
The country’s interim president, Ahmed al-Shara, presided over a national unity conference on Tuesday that was intended to build consensus around the nation’s political and economic future. It concluded with a statement decrying Israeli incursions in Syria and rejecting “the provocative statements of the Israeli prime minister.”
Syria’s new government said Israel was violating Syria’s sovereignty and a longstanding agreement, and called on the international community to pressure Israel “to stop the aggression.”
