(Reuters) -Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israeli troops deployed in southern Syria, drawing strong condemnation from the government in Damascus, which denounced the trip as a violation of sovereignty.

Israel expanded its military presence in southern Syria after the ousting of Bashar al-Assad last December, seizing positions east of a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syrian territory.

Wearing a flak jacket and helmet, Netanyahu on Wednesday visited troops on Syrian territory, according to photographs published by his office. He reiterated Israel’s commitment to protect Syria’s Druze minority, whose community straddles the border into northern Israel.

“We attach immense importance to our capability here, both defensive

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