Syria truce must not threaten Israeli security: Netanyahu

2/28/2016 6:48:17 PM

(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) >A long-term peace deal for Syria must not threaten Israel's security Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.

On the second day of a cessation-of-hostilities agreement that went into effect in Syria on midnight Friday Netanyahu said that Israel "from a humanitarian perspective" welcomed attempts to end the conflict but that the Jewish state had set certain "red lines" regarding its own security.

"It must be clear that any agreement in Syria must include an end to Iranian aggression against Israel from Syrian territory" Netanyahu said at a weekly cabinet meeting.

"We will not agree to the supply of advanced weaponry to Hezbollah from Syria and Lebanon" he asserted.

Israel he went on to stress feared the prospect of militants opening a new front in the Golan Heights a Syrian territory that Israel has occupied since 1967.

The cessation-of-hostilities deal was announced earlier this week by both Washington and Moscow.

The Daesh terrorist group and the Nusra Front Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate along with other unspecified groups designated terrorist organizations by the UN Security Council are not included in the agreement.

The deal is the latest in a series of diplomatic efforts ostensibly aimed at ending the conflict which will soon enter its sixth year.

Staffan de Mistura the UN's special envoy for Syria said Friday that -- if the truce holds -- he hoped to see peace talks resume on March 7 in Geneva with a view to guaranteeing the delivery of humanitarian aid to populations affected by the conflict.

According to the UN more than 250000 people have been killed since the conflict in Syria began in 2011.

Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.