DAMASCUS: Participants in Syria’s national dialogue conference affirmed on Tuesday their rejection of “provocative” statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has said no Syrian armed forces should be deployed south of Damascus.
In a closing statement read out by Houda Atassi, a member of the conference’s preparatory committee, the attendees stressed their “rejection of the provocative statements by the Israeli prime minister.”
They also called on the international community to pressure Israel to stop any “aggression and violations,” while condemning “the Israeli incursion into Syrian territory.”
On Sunday, Netanyahu said: “We will not allow forces from the HTS organization or the new Syrian army to enter the area south of Damascus,” referring to the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham which spearheaded the offensive that toppled Bashar Assad in December.
“We demand the complete demilitarization of southern Syria, including the Quneitra, Daraa and Suwayda provinces,” the Israeli prime minister declared at a military ceremony.
In Suwayda city, whose surrounding province is predominantly Druze Arab, hundreds of people gathered to protest against Netanyahu.
In Damascus, dozens of protesters gathered outside the headquarters of the United Nations, AFP photographers reported.
“I am here to support the people of my country and to affirm that Syria is sovereign over its entire territory,” Marwa Al-Maqbil, an artist at the protest, told AFP.
There were similar protests in Daraa and Quneitra in the south, in Latakia and Tartus in the west and in Aleppo in the north of Syria, according to the official SANA news agency.
Before the overthrow of Assad, his forces abandoned their positions in the south of the country ahead of the arrival of armed rebels in Damascus.
At the time, Israel launched an incursion into the UN-patrolled buffer zone between Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights.
It also launched hundreds of air strikes on Syrian military positions, saying it was moving to prevent strategic weapons from falling into the hands of groups hostile to Israel.
On Sunday, Netanyahu said Israeli troops would remain in the buffer zone “for an indefinite period to protect our communities and thwart any threat.”
![]()
Syria conference denounces ‘provocative’ Israeli remarks, military presence
Short Url
https://arab.news/8qq7x
Syria conference denounces ‘provocative’ Israeli remarks, military presence
- Syria called on the international community to pressure Israel to stop any “aggression and violations"
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said no Syrian armed forces should be deployed south of Damascus
Israeli settlers burn tents, vehicles in West Bank village
- Videos show masked men rampaging into the Palestinian village of Susiya near Hebron and burning vehicles and property
- Similar attacks have become common as settlers seek to control large swathes of land in the West Bank
SUSIYA, West Bank: Israeli settlers set fire to vehicles and tents in the Palestinian village of Susiya on Tuesday night, residents said, in the latest incident of settler violence against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Videos verified by Reuters showed a masked group of men, who residents said were Israeli settlers, approaching the village near the city of Hebron, and later burning vehicles and Palestinian property.
“They attack us almost every day, repeatedly, because we live near the main road...Last night they burned everywhere,” Halima Abu Eid, a Susiya resident told Reuters on Wednesday.
The Israeli military said they had dispatched soldiers to deal with reports of “deliberate burnings of Palestinian property” and had opened an investigation into the incident.
Violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank has increased sharply since the beginning of the war in Gaza in October 2023, with over 800 Palestinians displaced due to settler attacks in 2026 according to United Nations data.
Attacks where masked settlers arrive at night to destroy Palestinian property or attack residents have become common, as Israeli settlers seek to control large swathes of land in the West Bank.
An Israeli official previously blamed settler violence on a “fringe minority,” although Reuters reporting has shown well-organized plans to take Palestinian land in public settler social media channels.
The United Nations has documented at least 86 instances of settler violence from February 3 to 16, leading to the displacement of 146 Palestinians and the injury of 64.
Israeli indictments of settler violence are rare. At the end of 2025, Israeli monitoring group Yesh Din said of the hundreds of cases of settler violence it had documented since October 7, 2023, only 2 percent resulted in indictments. Israel’s far-right governing coalition has enabled the rapid spread of settlements, with some ministers openly stating they want to “bury” a Palestinian state.
Most world powers deem Israel’s settlements, on land it captured in a 1967 war, illegal, and numerous UN Security Council resolutions have called on Israel to halt all settlement activity.
Israel disputes the view that its settlements are unlawful and it cites biblical and historical ties to the land.
Videos verified by Reuters showed a masked group of men, who residents said were Israeli settlers, approaching the village near the city of Hebron, and later burning vehicles and Palestinian property.
“They attack us almost every day, repeatedly, because we live near the main road...Last night they burned everywhere,” Halima Abu Eid, a Susiya resident told Reuters on Wednesday.
The Israeli military said they had dispatched soldiers to deal with reports of “deliberate burnings of Palestinian property” and had opened an investigation into the incident.
Violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank has increased sharply since the beginning of the war in Gaza in October 2023, with over 800 Palestinians displaced due to settler attacks in 2026 according to United Nations data.
Attacks where masked settlers arrive at night to destroy Palestinian property or attack residents have become common, as Israeli settlers seek to control large swathes of land in the West Bank.
An Israeli official previously blamed settler violence on a “fringe minority,” although Reuters reporting has shown well-organized plans to take Palestinian land in public settler social media channels.
The United Nations has documented at least 86 instances of settler violence from February 3 to 16, leading to the displacement of 146 Palestinians and the injury of 64.
Israeli indictments of settler violence are rare. At the end of 2025, Israeli monitoring group Yesh Din said of the hundreds of cases of settler violence it had documented since October 7, 2023, only 2 percent resulted in indictments. Israel’s far-right governing coalition has enabled the rapid spread of settlements, with some ministers openly stating they want to “bury” a Palestinian state.
Most world powers deem Israel’s settlements, on land it captured in a 1967 war, illegal, and numerous UN Security Council resolutions have called on Israel to halt all settlement activity.
Israel disputes the view that its settlements are unlawful and it cites biblical and historical ties to the land.
Latest updates
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.