An open-ended Israeli military campaign in southern Syria will harden anti-Israel attitudes in the country as its political transition unfolds, which will embolden some armed groups to attack the Golan Heights and could eventually push Syria back toward anti-Israeli forces like Hezbollah and Iran. On Feb. 25, Israel conducted multiple airstrikes across southern Syria, as Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the country would act to prevent southern Syria from becoming ''southern Lebanon.'' The attack came one day after Syria's transitional government demanded Israel withdraw from the territory it occupied in December 2024 in the wake of the fall of longtime Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It also came just after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu demanded on Feb. 23 the demilitarization of Syria's southwestern Quneitra, Daraa and Suwayda provinces, where Iran-linked groups used to operate before the Assad regime's collapse....
