Israeli army will remain in the buffer zone all winter

Israel, which has occupied the Golan since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, seized the demilitarized zone, just hours after the flight of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, driven from power by rebels.

Since then, the Israeli army has carried out hundreds of air and naval strikes against military installations in Syria, targeting both chemical weapons stockpiles and air defenses, in order to prevent them from falling, according to it, into the hands of the rebels.

The presence of Israeli troops in the buffer zone comes at a time when Israel continues to withdraw soldiers from southern Lebanon following the ceasefire concluded at the end of November following two months of open war against the Lebanese pro-Lebanese movement. Iranian Hezbollah. At the same time, the war waged by the Israeli army against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023 is far from over.

“Because of what is happening in Syria, it is of paramount security importance to maintain our presence at the summit of Mount Hermon, and we must do everything to ensure the readiness of (the army) there, in order to allow “for fighters to stay in this place despite the difficult climatic conditions” during the winter, declared the Israeli Minister of Defense in a press release.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Thursday that the collapse of the Assad government had created a “vacuum on Israel’s border and in the buffer zone,” stressing that the presence of Israeli troops there was temporary, pending that security on the border between Israel and Syria can be guaranteed.

Israel’s occupation of the buffer zone has drawn widespread international criticism, including from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. He called on Thursday, through his spokesperson, “all parties” to “put an end to the unauthorized presence in the zone of separation and to refrain from any action that would undermine the ceasefire and the stability of the Golan.

The UN considers the takeover of the buffer zone on the edge of the part of the Golan Heights occupied and annexed by Israel as a “violation” of the 1974 disengagement agreement between Syria and Israel. The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDF) said in a statement on Friday that it had informed Israel.

UNDOF added that its forces “remained in their positions” and “continued to carry out the activities provided for in their mandate”.
For its part, the Israeli army indicated on Friday that its soldiers were carrying out “defensive missions in the separation zone in Syrian territory and along the border”.

The United States, Israel’s main military ally, has called for the Israeli incursion to be “temporary.”
According to some analysts, Israel fears that weapons stocks kept by the armed forces of the deposed Syrian president could fall into the hands of jihadist groups, who could use them against him.
The duration of the presence of Israeli troops in the buffer zone will “depend on the stability and intentions of the new Syrian regime”, estimates geostrategy expert Michaël Horowitz.

While the new leaders in Damascus appear to be sending conciliatory messages, even toward Israel, “I believe that after October 7, Israel is not ready to take risks,” Horowitz told the AFP.
“In the current chaos (in Syria), and given the composition of the Israeli government (with far-right ministers, editor’s note), the temptation will be very strong to stay on the Syrian part of the Hermon, even in the longer term ” he said.