JERUSALEM, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday played down Israeli concerns over the U.S. pullout from Syria, saying his country will continue to act against Iranian forces in Syria.
"I would like to reassure those who are concerned," he said at the weekly cabinet meeting. "Our cooperation with the United States will continue in full and finds expression in many areas."
This cooperation includes joint operations, intelligence information, and "many other security spheres," he added.
"We will continue to act against Iran's attempts to entrench itself militarily in Syria," Netanyahu noted.
U.S. President Donald Trump said last week that the Islamic State (IS) militant group had been defeated and the United States will withdraw its forces from Syria.
The move is expected to end U.S. involvement in the war-torn country and allow Turkey to attack the Syrian Kurdish fighters, who were U.S. allies during the anti-IS war.
Israel is concerned about Iranian forces, who are fighting in Syria along Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, and Hezbollah, a Lebanese Iran-backed Shiite militia.
The Israeli air force has carried out hundreds of airstrikes against what it says are Iranian military sites and weapons convoys to Hezbollah.
In addition, Israel has often responded to errant fire from the fighting between Syrian army forces and rebels near the border with artillery fire against al-Assad's army positions.
