Demonstrations broke out in several areas in the southern Syrian provinces of Daraa and Quneitra, denouncing remarks made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Enab Baladi’s reporter in Daraa monitored demonstrations today, February 24, in the cities and towns of Busra al-Sham, Atman, Nawa, and Dael, as well as a protest at Khan Arnabeh roundabout in the city of Quneitra.
The demonstrators carried banners calling for Syrian unity, rejecting division, and denouncing foreign interventions, urging the new Syrian administration in Damascus to respond to the statements made by the Israeli Prime Minister, chanting the slogan “Down with Israel.”
Activist Ahmad Kiwan, one of the organizers of the protests in Quneitra, told Enab Baladi that they protested against the Israeli presence in southern Syria and called for what he termed “Syrian unity” to confront regional threats from what he described as “the incursions and misconduct of the occupying forces.”
Kiwan appealed to humanitarian and international organizations to put an end to the Israeli incursion and to push the occupying forces back beyond the 1974 disengagement agreement.
The protests coincided with the flying of warplanes, believed to be Israeli, at low altitudes in southern Syrian areas, according to Enab Baladi’s reporter.
In this context, activists and civil society organizations called for demonstrations tomorrow, Tuesday, February 25, in Damascus, Latakia, Homs, As-Suwayda, Quneitra, and Daraa.
The call was made to pressure Israel into adhering to the 1974 disengagement agreement and to halt what they termed “Israeli violations” on Syrian territory, demanding a withdrawal from the lands it occupied unconditionally.
Organizations calling for demonstrations in Syria to denounce the Israeli incursion in southern Syria
The protests were in response to remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who called for the disarmament of the provinces of Daraa, As-Suwayda, and Quneitra in southern Syria, and for the new Syrian administration not to enter them.
On Sunday, February 23, Netanyahu stated, “We will not allow [Hayat Tahrir al-Sham] or the new Syrian army to enter the area south of Damascus, and we demand the removal of all weapons from Quneitra, Daraa, and As-Suwayda and the non-entry of the new ruling forces into the area.”
He added, “We will not allow any threat to the Druze community in southern Syria.”
Following Netanyahu’s remarks, his Defense Minister, Israel Katz, stated that he would not allow what he termed “hostile forces” to establish themselves in the southern security zone in Syria.
As of the release of this news, the Syrian government had not commented on Netanyahu’s statements, although the Syrian transitional president has, on multiple occasions, stated that the Israeli incursion is unjustified, as its fears regarding the former regime and Iranian militias are no longer present.
In the initial moments following the fall of the previous regime on December 8, Israel crossed into the buffer zone on the Syrian southern border, entering and establishing itself in several areas in Daraa and Quneitra, justifying its incursion as a means for ensuring its internal security.
Moreover, Israel continues to strike sites belonging to the Syrian army, claiming that it destroys them to prevent them from falling into the hands of extremists. The latest strike occurred on February 19, targeting sites in the Sa’sa area of Damascus countryside in southern Syria, which it claimed were military sites of the ousted regime’s army.
Israeli statements indicate that their presence in southern Syria will remain indefinitely, further supported by the construction of military bases in areas they entered in southern Syria.