Israeli troops patrol the border fence with Syria near the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights. AFP
Following deadly sectarian violence in Syria last month, Netanyahu met with a Druze leader in Israel, reassuring him that his government was negotiating to safeguard the religious community in Syria.
"We are focusing on three things: Protecting the Druze community in the Sweida governorate, but not only there; creating a demilitarised zone stretching from the Golan Heights (passing) south of Damascus down to and including Sweida; and establishing a humanitarian corridor to allow the delivery of aid," the premier said.
"These discussions are taking place right now, at this very moment," he added, according to a video shared by his office.
Israel, which has its own Druze community, has presented itself as a defender of the minority group, although some analysts say that is a pretext for pursuing its own military goal of keeping Syrian government forces as far away as possible from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Last week, Syria's official news agency SANA reported that Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani had met an Israeli delegation led by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer in Paris on August 19.
Talks focused on de-escalation between the two countries and the situation in Druze-majority Sweida province after deadly sectarian clashes there last month, the news channel said
The French Foreign Ministry confirmed the meeting to AFP, saying it had been conducted "under US mediation" and that delegations from the two Middle Eastern neighbours had previously met on July 24 in the French capital.
Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria since the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad in December, and occupied much of a UN-patrolled demilitarised zone on the Syrian-held side of the armistice line between the two countries.
Damascus has confirmed holding indirect contacts with Israel with the intention of returning to the 1974 disengagement agreement that created the buffer zone.
In July, Israel bombed Syrian government forces in the capital and in Sweida province to force their withdrawal from the southern region amid a wave of sectarian violence.
On Wednesday night, Israeli forces conducted an airborne raid on a site near the Syrian capital after bombing it several times, SANA reported Thursday.
Israel did not confirm the raid, but Defence Minister Israel Katz said its forces operate "in all combat zones" to ensure the country’s security.
Tel Aviv has cited security concerns and "existential threats" as a pretext for maintaining protracted occupations of parts of Syria and Lebanon.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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