Israel on Friday ordered its troops to prepare to remain on Mount Hermon for the winter. Mount Hermon is a strategic mountain within the decades-old buffer zone with Syria, which was occupied by Israeli forces following the fall of the Assad regime.
This raises the possibility that Israel could maintain a presence in Syria for an extended period of time, ignoring international pressure to stop Syrian advances and airstrikes, as the world wants to ensure a peaceful transition in the country. It was the latest sign of sexuality.
On Friday, crowds gathered in central squares across Syria to celebrate the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, the leader of the Islamist group that led the surprising rebel advance.
The United States defended Israel’s actions in Syria. Recent efforts by the U.S. government to prevent conflict from escalating in the Middle East have left Gaza’s latest efforts to prevent further conflict in the Middle East, even as local officials in Gaza report that recent Israeli airstrikes on refugee camps in the Palestinian enclave have killed dozens of people. There are growing expectations for a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
Israel to station troops on Mount Hermon
Israel insists its actions in Syria are temporary and defensive, but on Thursday UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged Israeli forces to withdraw from the buffer zone, saying it would “protect Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” There has been a growing backlash against what the government called “widespread violations.”
He also expressed concern about hundreds of Israeli attacks across Syria since the overthrow of Assad, which Israel says are aimed at preventing regime weapons from falling into the hands of militants.
“Due to what is happening in Syria, securing the Hermon Mountains is of critical security importance, and Israel Defense Forces preparations in the area are in place to allow troops to remain on the ground even under difficult weather conditions. “Everything must be done to ensure that,” Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said in a statement on Friday.
He shared with X a photo of him and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looking out over Mount Hermon through binoculars, saying the area was “back under Israeli control for the first time in 51 years.”
“An exciting historical moment,” he wrote.
Netanyahu’s office said the fall of the Assad regime “created a vacuum on Israel’s borders and the buffer zone,” which was established as part of a ceasefire between the two countries after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.
“Israel will not allow jihadist groups to fill the vacuum and threaten Israeli communities in the Golan Heights,” his office said.
Israel occupied the Golan Heights after the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed it, a move that is not recognized by most of the international community.
At over 9,000 feet, Mount Hermon is the highest mountain on the eastern Mediterranean coast. Israel’s seizure of the area last week has sparked a swift backlash, with critics accusing the country of exploiting the situation with a land grab.
In Syria, tens of thousands of people from across the country gathered for a massive rally to celebrate the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, after worshipers gathered for the first Friday prayers since the end of his family’s brutal 50-year rule.
In a video message, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, leader of the main opposition group that ousted President Bashar al-Assad, called on Syrians to “gather in the squares to celebrate victory.”
But he urged revelers to celebrate without firing shots or causing a disturbance so “we can move on to building this country.”
