Israel says southern Syria must be demilitarized. Why?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz both made statements today (Sunday) saying that not only would the IDF be staying in southern Syria for the foreseeable future, but that the whole area must become demilitarized.

According to i24 military correspondent Yosef Inon Yttach, Israel's position as laid out by Netanyahu and Katz included the following three components:

1) Complete demilitarization of southern Syria

2) Preventing the new Syrian army from moving south of Damascus

3) Protecting the Druze community in southern Syria

Yttach said that this sweeping policy statement was preceded by a classified discussion took place Thursday night with top security officials, focusing entirely on the Syrian issue.

Reportedly, pressure from regional countries to establish Israeli policy regarding developments in southern Syria, along with significant progress in forces establishing themselves there (9 permanent positions in the buffer zone and on Mount Hermon), forced Israel to take a stand that went beyond merely announcing a semi-permanent presence for the IDF on the Syrian side of the border.

During the discussion, top security officials presented the situation assessment and status of forces' advancement in the field, leading the Defense Minister and Prime Minister presented the policy they developed over several weeks regarding Syria.

Israel has been working to develop a policy towards southern Syria ever since the collapse of the Bashar Assad regime in the face of an offensive by rebel forces last year, as the region has traditionally served as a route for smuggling weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon and for directing terror attacks against Israel itself.

At first, it launched multiple waves of air strikes to destroy any and all weapons and weapons systems - including reportedly chemical weapons - belonging to the now defunct Syrian Army, to prevent it from falling into enemy hands.

Then, IDF forces moved into southern Syria to disarm local populations and empty out abandoned Syrian outposts of any military equipment. The IDF is reportedly also establishing permanent outposts on the Syrian side of the border, as per Yttach's report.

Israel's new stance may be part of its evolving attitude towards the new Syrian regime in Damascus, which it does not trust - Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar has repeatedly said that the new rebel government is considered Jihadist and a possible danger to powerful minority groups such as the Kurds and the Druze, both of whom Israel has relations with.