(VOVworld) – Israel has established a closed military zone along its border with Syria in the northern Golan Heights, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday.

Israeli soldiers walk past vehicles of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) near the town of Majdal Shams, on the Golan Heights, April 27, 2015. (Photo: AFP)

The IDF said that it is following the fighting in Syria from the border of the Golan Heights and is acting to safeguard security in the area. The closed military zone announced on Tuesday is located in the eastern part of the Golan Heights near Majdal Shams.
The decision aims to prevent gatherings of people near the border fence, following a week of protests by the Druze community in northern Israel, who called on Israel to help their brethren in Syria who are being persecuted by Islamist militants.
Gadi Eizenkot, the Israeli Chief of General Staff, told the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in the Knesset on Tuesday that the IDF would act if necessary, in order to prevent the massacre of Syrian refugees, including the Druze. He also expressed his concern over Syria’s civil war which isnow approaching Israel’s border.