Israeli forces will remain in a secure position inside Syria for the foreseeable future, Netanyahu said

Israeli troops will remain on Syrian territory – in what is supposed to be a demilitarized zone – indefinitely, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday, as part of what he described as efforts to strengthen security amid the chaos in Syria.

The troops will remain “until another arrangement is found that will guarantee Israel's security,” Netanyahu said at the top of Mount Hermon, which is divided between the Golan Heights occupied by Israel, Lebanon and Syria.

Israel entered the demilitarized zone, east of the Golan Heights, earlier this month following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime. Its seizure of 400 square kilometers of Syrian territory sparked Israeli accusations of violating the 1974 UN peace accord that established the area, and of using the unrest in its northeastern neighbor to seize land.

Israel captured, and later took the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Its claim to the region is recognized only by the US

Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz, who appeared with Netanyahu, said he ordered the army to quickly secure the area, including the fortifications, in anticipation of a possible long stay in the area.

The summit of this mountain, which is the highest point in the area, will be “the eyes of the land of Israel so that our enemies near and far can be seen,” said Katz.

An Israeli military official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in accordance with military regulations, said there was no plan to evacuate Syrians living there.

This is not the first time Israel has entered the buffer zone this year.

AP report last month to check the satellite image they found that Israel had been working on construction, possibly a new road, near Syria since early July, and in some cases had entered the area during construction.

Later the UN forces warned that the Israeli military has committed “serious violations” of its ceasefire agreement with Syria.

Airstrikes across Syria

Israeli troops began entering the buffer zone on December 7, according to Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar; on the same day unknown armed men attacked the UN forces in Syria.

“[The Israeli military] took targeted and temporary control of certain areas near the border to prevent the situation of Oct. 7 from Syria,” Saar said at the time, referring to Hamas' surprise attack in 2023 on Israel from the Gaza Strip.

That was followed by a wave of airstrikes inside Syria that hit more than 350 targets including anti-aircraft batteries, military airfields, weapons production facilities, anti-missile aircraft, the Israeli military said.

Israeli missiles also attacked Syrian ports where 15 warships were docked.

Israeli officials said the strikes across Syria were aimed at destroying strategic weapons and military infrastructure to prevent them from being used by rebel groups that ousted al-Assad from power, some of them from groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

Netanyahu previously described entering the buffer zone as a necessary and “temporary defensive zone.”

Regional abandonment

A UN spokesman said on Tuesday that any Israeli military advance, no matter how long it takes, violates the agreement that established the safe zone.

That agreement “needs to be respected, and a job is a job, whether it takes a week, a month or a year, it's always a job,” said Stephane Dujarric.

There was no immediate comment from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the terrorist group that led the ouster of al-Assad, or from the Arab states.

Earlier, Ahmad al-Sharaa – a Syrian leader and head of HTS – said Israel was using false pretexts to justify its attacks, but made it clear that it was not interested in getting involved in new conflicts as the country focused on reconstruction.

Some in the region criticized Israel's move into Syrian territory earlier this month. Egypt's Foreign Ministry accused Israel of “using a power vacuum … to occupy large areas of Syria and create a fait accompli that violates international law.”

Saudi Arabia separately criticized Israel for its “willingness to undermine Syria's opportunities to restore security, stability and territorial integrity.”