Defense Minister Israel Katz said in an interview at the Local Government Center conference that "As we have announced, we are protecting the Druze in Syria. Southern Syria will be a demilitarized zone, we have been attacking with increasing intensity for at least 24 hours including regime targets. We just hit a target adjacent to the general headquarters in Damascus and the threshold will continue to rise if the message is not understood. We will not allow this regime to harm and massacre Druze in Syria." According to him, "We are in discussions all the time. How we operate powerfully, measured and correctly to ensure that Druze in Syria are not harmed while maintaining the security interests of the State of Israel."