DAMASCUS - Syria's foreign affairs authorities on Wednesday condemned an "illegal" visit by senior Israeli officials to the country's south, calling it a serious breach of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In a statement, the Syrian side described the visit, which was made by the Israeli prime minister along with the defense and foreign ministers and other officials, as "a new attempt to impose a fait accompli" and violated UN Security Council resolutions.

The statement said any Israeli measures in southern Syria were "null and void" under international law and repeated Syria's demand for the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from its territory. It urged the international community to curb Israeli actions and press Israel to return to the 1974 Disengagement Agreement.

Syria "will continue to defend its sovereignty and its rights until every inch of its land is restored," the statement said.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday toured the buffer zone on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, the prime minister's office said, amid reports of contacts aimed at reaching a new security arrangement in the area.

Netanyahu was accompanied by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, military chief Eyal Zamir, and Shin Bet director David Zini, among others.

"The prime minister arrived at an IDF (Israel Defense Forces) outpost where he observed the area, and then held a security briefing," the office said in a statement.

Speaking to soldiers at the outpost, Netanyahu said Israel attaches "great importance" to its capabilities, "both defensive and offensive, in this area," to "protecting our Druze allies" in the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, and "above all, to safeguarding Israel and its northern border facing the Golan."

"This is a mission that can develop at any moment," he said, without elaborating.

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Israel and Syria have been holding US-brokered talks on a security agreement concerning areas of southern Syria that Israeli forces have been controlling after the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

Earlier this month, Syrian interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa visited the White House, where he and US President Donald Trump discussed a possible security deal and partial US sanctions relief.

In the following interviews, al-Sharaa confirmed the talks but denied any imminent agreement, noting that any deal would require Israel to pull back from the areas of southern Syria it has held, a condition Israel has rejected.

Earlier this week, Israel's public broadcaster Kan reported that the talks have stalled.

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Israel expanded its hold over the Golan Heights after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad government in late 2024, taking control of the demilitarized buffer zone in violation of the 1974 agreement that set out the separation of forces.

Israeli incursions into southern Syria have increased over the past year, with residents reporting farmland seizures, forest destruction, civilian arrests, and new military checkpoints. Syria says Israel has carried out more than 1,000 airstrikes and over 400 cross-border raids in the south since December 2024.