People take part in a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks on demilitarization of southern Syria, outside the United Nations office in Damascus, Syria, on Feb 25, 2025. [Photo/Agencies]
Thousands of Syrians took to the streets to protest against the presence of Israeli occupation forces after the Israeli military raided Syrian army bases on Monday, even as the Israeli government made it clear that its forces would remain in parts of southern Syria for an indefinite period.
Israeli troops began raiding and destroying weapons in Syrian army bases on Monday, the Israeli military said in a statement.
During the raids, soldiers from the Paratroopers Brigade "located rifles, ammunition, and other military equipment left behind by the old Syrian regime forces", Xinhua News Agency reported, quoting Israeli troops. "All findings were either confiscated or dismantled."
"We will not allow forces from the HTS organization or the new Syrian army to enter the area south of Damascus," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday, referring to the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, which spearheaded the offensive that toppled longtime Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad last December, according to a report by The Times of Israel.
Addressing a military ceremony on Sunday, Netanyahu demanded the "full demilitarization of southern Syria from troops of the new Syrian regime in the Quneitra, Daraa and Suwayda provinces".
A battalion commander in the 474th Brigade, whose name was not disclosed, said in video footage released by the Israeli military that the aim of the raids was "to eliminate all the weapons and capabilities" of the Syrian army, according to Al Jazeera.
"This is part of a series of activities where we also located rockets, explosives and mines, along with other explosives, and even tanks and armored personnel carriers, which we dismantled," said the commander.
Meanwhile, thousands of Syrians staged rallies in the country's southwestern Quneitra province to express their deep resentment over the presence of Israeli occupation forces, Mehr News Agency reported.
The demonstrators voiced their protests over the illegal deployment of Israeli troops in southern Syria, and vehemently denounced all aggressive policies of Israel against Syria.
Arhama Siddiqa, a Middle East analyst and research fellow at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad in Pakistan, told China Daily that Israeli raids on Syrian army bases and Netanyahu's claim that Israel will not allow Syria's new army to enter areas south of Damascus signal a strategic recalibration in the region.
While Israel has long maintained an ambiguous yet proactive security policy for Syria, its continued military presence in the Golan Heights and southern Syria suggests an effort to prevent the consolidation of Iranian-backed militias and Hezbollah in areas bordering Israel, Siddiqa said.
However, such actions risk further destabilizing an already fragile Syria where state institutions remain weak and territorial fragmentation persists, Siddiqa stressed.
Responses from the Syrian interim government were not available as officials remained busy.
Syrian interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa will visit Jordan on Wednesday to meet King Abdullah II to discuss boosting ties between the neighboring countries, according to the Jordan News Agency. He is also expected to attend the Arab summit in early March at the invitation of host country Egypt.
Asaad al-Shaibani, Syria's interim foreign minister, welcomed the decision by the European Union to suspend certain sanctions on Syria, calling it a step toward alleviating the suffering of the Syrian people, Xinhua reported. Interim economy minister Basil Abdulaziz Abdul Hanan sat down with the Middle East director of the World Bank Jean-Christophe Carret on Monday to discuss resuming cooperation with the lender.
The prospect of long-term peace in Syria depends on diplomatic engagement, the withdrawal of foreign military forces, and a balanced power-sharing agreement in Syria's evolving political framework, Siddiqa said.
