Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu told U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan today that it is necessary to “deter any terrorist activity” from Syria against Israel after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Netanyahu stressed “the vital need to help minorities in Syria and to prevent any terrorist activity against Israel from Syrian soil,” during a meeting in Jerusalem with Sullivan and other officials, according to a statement from his office.

In recent days, Israel has said it has carried out large-scale strikes in Syria to destroy strategic weapons in the country.

Responding to Paris and Israel’s call yesterday for Israel to withdraw from the neutral zone established between that country and Syria, as well as “respect for Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Israel said it would continue to act to “ensure the security of its citizens.”

On Sunday, Netanyahu announced after Assad’s fall that he had ordered the army to “take control” of the Golan Neutral Zone in southwestern Syria.

The French Foreign Ministry stressed that “any military deployment in the separation zone between Israel and Syria is a violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement, which must be respected by the parties, Israel and Syria.”

“This action was necessary for defensive reasons due to the threats from jihadist groups operating near the border, to avoid a scenario similar to the one of October 7 in this area,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said today, referring to the Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war in the Gaza Strip.