Tel Aviv [Israel], February 23 (ANI/TPS): Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for the demilitarization of southern Syria and protection for its Druze community on Sunday, the first time he has publicly called for this since the collapse of Bashar Assad's regime in December.
"We demand the full demilitarization of southern Syria," said Netanyahu, who was addressing a graduation ceremony for cadet officers in Beer-Sheva. "We will not tolerate any threat to the Druze community in southern Syria."
Netanyahu also held up a photo of Shiri Bibas and her sons, Ariel and Kfir whose remains were recently returned to Israel. Forensics experts who examined the bodies said they had been murdered, and that there was no evidence to back Hamas claims they were killed during an Israeli airstrike.
"This picture says it all, and I ask that you engrave it on the tablet of your hearts so that we always remember what we are fighting for and who we are fighting against," Netanyahu said.
"In the last days of the war, [Hamas] murdered Shiri and her children in cold blood. They strangled the tender children with their own hands, and if they could, they would have murdered all of us with the same cruelty," he added.
Regarding Iran, Netanyahu reaffirmed Israel's long-standing stance, declaring, "We will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons."
Israel sent forces into the 235 sq km buffer zone to prevent Syrian rebels from approaching the border when Turkish-backed Islamist rebels toppled Assad government. Israel also launched waves of airstrikes on Syrian army assets and Iranian stockpiles to prevent them from falling into the hands of radical Islamists.
Israel considers the 1974 ceasefire agreement void until order is restored in Syria.
While Israeli forces have briefly entered the buffer zone in the past, December's takeover marked the first time since its establishment that the IDF set up positions there. The demilitarized zone was established with a ceasefire in 1974 that ended the Yom Kippur War. (ANI/TPS)
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