Syria leader welcomes UN soldiers in its buffer zone with Israel

Syria’s de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, says his country is ready to welcome United Nations peacekeepers into the UN-established buffer zone with Israel.

“Israel’s advance in the region was due to the presence of Iranian militias and Hezbollah. After the liberation of Damascus, I believe that they have no presence at all. There are pretexts that Israel is using today to advance into the Syrian regions—into the buffer zone,” said al-Sharaa.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he ordered Israeli forces to grab a buffer zone in the Golan Heights—established by a 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria—after a lightning advance by Syrian opposition forces ended Bashar al-Assad’s rule last month.