The secretary of state said Iran, which has long funded militant groups such as Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, threatens Middle East stability.

The announcement came hours after demonstrations against Israel’s failure to withdraw from southern Lebanon by the original deadline. At least 22 were killed, health officials said.

Israel said Friday it would keep troops in the south beyond the Sunday deadline set out in the U.S.-brokered ceasefire that halted last year’s war with Hezbollah.

The outcome showed the diminished sway of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group after its devastating war with Israel.

Israel’s defense minister said that he ordered the military to establish a “sterile defense zone” in southern Syria and that Israel's navy had destroyed Syria's military fleet.

Abu Mohammad al-Jolani has sought to rebrand his and his group’s position while distancing himself from their Al Qaeda connections.

If confirmed, it would be the fifth Syrian city that President Bashar al-Assad has lost in recent days as insurgents press on with their lightning-fast offensive.

If Homs were to fall, it would leave three of the country’s five largest cities in the hands of the forces led by the militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

“I can’t depend on the Lebanese army to protect us from Hezbollah,” said a displaced resident of the Israeli border city of Kiryat Shimona.

Warplanes have launched “concentrated air and missile strikes” on Idlib province, the Syrian Defense Ministry said.