Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz directed the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to assert complete control over the buffer zone separating Israel and Syria.
"PM Netanyahu and I instructed the Israeli military to seize the buffer zone and control points to ensure the protection of all Israeli communities in the Golan Heights," Katz said in a statement. The directive includes establishing a "security zone free of heavy strategic weapons and terror infrastructure" in southern Syria.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office disclosed that the IDF had stationed troops along a demilitarized buffer zone adjacent to the Golan Heights in response to ongoing unrest in Syria.
