Israel orders troops to prepare for prolonged stay in Syria

The IDF must make special preparations to remain on the strategic Mount Hermon, Defense Minister Israel Katz has directed

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has ordered the country’s troops to prepare to stay in newly seized Syrian territory over the winter, despite growing international calls to retreat.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) seized the demilitarized buffer zone (DMZ) on the border with Syria established in 1974 and expanded beyond the area of the Golan Heights they had been illegally occupying since 1967. Katz said this week the IDF would establish a temporary “sterile defense zone” in southern Syria to prevent any “terrorist threat” after the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government.

On Friday, Katz said he had instructed the IDF to “set up appropriate facilities and make special preparations for the soldiers to remain on Mount Hermon” inside Syria.

Mount Hermon, which lies near the border with Lebanon, is a strategic location overlooking Damascus. As the highest mountain in Syria, it provides a plateau for observation across the region, including for areas in Lebanon. With radars placed on Mount Hermon, Israel would be able to monitor a much broader area, experts say.

“Due to what is happening in Syria – there is enormous security importance to our holding on to the peak of Mount Hermon,” Katz has stated, as quoted by media.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday reportedly told US national security adviser Jake Sullivan that Israel would remain in the buffer zone “until there is an effective force” to uphold a 1974 armistice agreement that paused a conflict between Syria and Israel.

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Israel began active military operations in Syria after the armed opposition, spearheaded by the Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS) jihadist group, launched a surprise offensive against government forces that led to the rapid collapse of the Assad government and to the former president’s exile in Russia.

According to the IDF, the massive airstrikes carried out across Syria over the past week have destroyed billions of dollars worth of military assets, including Syria’s vast aerial defenses, at least five air force squadrons, and a missile production facility. About 90% of Syria’s “identified strategic surface to air missiles” have also been demolished, the IDF said.

Israel’s incursion has been condemned internationally, with the UN saying it violates the disengagement agreement. On Thursday, the UN demanded that all parties end “all unauthorized presence in the area of separation.”

Türkiye, which supports some of the Syrian opposition factions that ousted Assad, has accused Israel of applying an “occupier mentality.”

The US has defended Israel’s military incursion into Syria, claiming the operation comes in self-defense.