Israeli defense minister orders to establish 'sterile defense zone' in southern Syria

Israel will establish a "sterile defense zone" in southern Syria without Israel’s permanent presence, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said.

"I and the prime minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] have ordered the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to create a sterile defense zone free from weapons and terrorist threats in southern Syria, without Israel’s permanent presence," the N14 television channel quoted him as saying while visiting an Israeli naval base in Haifa.

According to Katz, the IDF is completing deploying its units in the buffer zone on the border with Syria and adjacent areas in order to defend people leaving in the Golan Heights and Israeli citizens.