News - Middle East: Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has escalated territorial demands in Syria, calling for a mandatory demilitarized “buffer zone” stretching from the fringe of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to the outskirts of the capital Damascus.

Netanyahu issued the demand in a statement released by his office on Tuesday, delivered after visiting Israeli forces wounded during a recent incursion into Syrian territory.

The raid targeted the town of Beit Jinn, where Syrian media say at least 13 civilians, including women and children, were killed. The Israeli regime claimed the operation was directed at “militants,” but offered no verified evidence for the identities of those killed.

In his address, Netanyahu insisted the zone had to include approaches to Mount Hermon, including its summit, framing the expansion of Israeli military control as a non-negotiable “security principle.”

He said, “We hold these territories to ensure” the “security” of the regime’s illegal settlers, adding that any agreement with Syria would require the latter’s acceptance of Tel Aviv’s conditions.

The remarks came alongside comments by US President Donald Trump, who publicly alleged that the regime had to “maintain a strong and true dialogue with Syria” and warned against steps that could “interfere with Syria’s evolution,” without addressing the regime’s continuing ground operations inside the country.

Observers rated the latter remarks as mere lip service paid to the issue fo Syria’s territorial integrity. They cited Washington’s invariable outright support for the regime’s regional incursions and atrocities.

Since late 2024, following the fall of president Bashar al-Assad government during an Israeli-backed onslaught overwhelming Syria, Israeli forces have advanced into a United Nations-designated Area of Separation created in 1974 after a UN-brokered ceasefire.

The 235-square-kilometer zone was originally intended as neutral territory to prevent escalation, patrolled by UN peacekeepers.

Most countries still reject Tel Aviv’s annexation of the broader Golan Heights, seized in 1967.

The regime alleges that some of its deeper strikes inside Syria are meant to defend the Druze minority, a claim met with skepticism by independent analysts, who note that the Israeli military has simultaneously bombed civilian infrastructure and political targets far from any verified sectarian frontlines. The Druze, themselves, have also rejected “Israeli protection.”

Trump has embraced new Syrian ruler Abu Mohammad Jolani, an ex-Daesh and al-Qaeda commander, who rose to power as a result of the Israeli-backed military drive. He has hosted him at the White House.

Trump was previously honored by Tel Aviv with “Trump Heights,” an illegal settlement built on occupied land.

Source: Press TV