UPDATE - Israel declares ‘closed military zones’ in Golan after regime collapse in Syria

UPDATES WITH NETANYAHU’S COMMENTS

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army imposed “closed military zones” in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights on Sunday following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria.

In a statement, military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said that the decision was taken based on a security assessment conducted by the Northern Command.

“Schools in four Druze communities in the northern Golan Heights – Buq’ata, Ein Qiniye, Mas’ade, and Majdal Shams – would carry out studies online on Sunday. Daycares would still operate as usual in those towns,” he said.

The spokesman said agricultural areas near Merom Golan, Ein Zivan, Buq’ata and Khirbet Ein Hura would be off-limits until the end of the month.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the toppling of the Assad regime was a direct result of the Israeli air campaign against Hezbollah and Iran.

"We will not allow any hostile force to position itself on our borders,” Netanyahu said in a recorded speech near the Israeli-Syrian border, which was broadcast by the public broadcaster KAN.

“This has created a chain reaction throughout the Middle East of all those who want to be free from this oppressive and tyrannical regime,” he added.

The Israeli premier claimed that Israel has been working to protect its border area with Syria.

“This area has been controlled for nearly 50 years by a buffer zone agreed upon in 1974, the Separation of Forces Agreement. This agreement has collapsed, the Syrian soldiers have abandoned their positions,” he said.

The Israeli army early Sunday deployed additional forces along the buffer zone separating Syria and the occupied Golan Heights with the military citing concerns over the potential infiltration of armed groups into the region.

Assad fled Syria to an unknown location after anti-regime groups took control of the capital Damascus early Sunday, marking the collapse of the Baath Party regime, which had been in power in Syria since 1963.

It came over a week after anti-regime groups seized control of Aleppo, a major city in northern Syria.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi and Rania Abu Shamala