Israel's prime minister says he will erect a fortified fence on the border with Syria to protect against radical Islamist forces that he claims have taken over the area.

Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel needs a barrier like a new Egyptian border fence that he says has stemmed the flow of African migrants. He said the Syrian regime was "unstable" and Israel was concerned about the country's chemical weapons. He told his Cabinet Sunday that across the frontier "the Syrian army has moved away, and in its place, Global Jihad forces have moved in."

Global Jihad is the term Israel uses for forces influenced by al-Qaida. Syria's rebels include some al-Qaida-allied fighters.

Israel has largely stayed out of the conflict, though several mortar rounds have landed in the Israel-held Golan Heights.