In response, UNDOF “informed its Israeli counterparts that these actions would be a violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement,” he added.
“There must be no military forces or activities in the separation zone. And Israel and Syria must continue to implement the terms of the 1974 agreement and preserve the stability of the Golan,” he insisted.
The United States said Monday it expected the Israeli incursion to be “temporary.” “What we want to see, ultimately, is that this agreement (of 1974, editor’s note) is fully respected. And we will ensure that Israel does it,” said the spokesperson for the Department of Defense. State, Matthew Miller.
Syria: what is the Golan buffer zone in which the Israeli army is deployed?
In a letter sent Monday to the UN Security Council, Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon, repeating that the measures were “limited and temporary”, assured that Israeli forces would continue “to act as much as necessary to protect the State of Israel and its citizens, in full respect of international law.
“It is important to emphasize, however, that Israel is not intervening in the ongoing conflict between Syrian armed groups; our actions are solely focused on maintaining our security,” he added, citing the entry in the buffer zone on Saturday of armed groups having attacked Fnuod positions.
-Events confirmed by the UN which spoke of “unidentified armed men” coming from Syria.
Israel conquered part of the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. The demilitarized, UN-controlled buffer zone was created following an agreement to disengage Israeli and Syrian forces in 1974 after the Arab-Israeli war of 1973. Israel annexed the part of the Golan under its control in 1981.
And “the Golan will be part of the State of Israel for eternity,” Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on Monday, believing that control of the plateau “guarantees our sovereignty.”
Gideon Saar and an Israeli government spokesperson also confirmed that Israeli soldiers had pushed a little further than the buffer zone, on the slopes of Mount Hermon, the summit of the Anti-Lebanon range straddling the Syria and Lebanon and of which Israel occupies part of the southern flank.
The government ordered the army to “take” positions evacuated by the Syrian army, “including in the area (…) of Mount Hermon (…) in order to ensure that no hostile jihadist force – or Hezbollah (Lebanese, Editor’s note) – is setting up right next to the border,” said David Mencer, spokesperson for the Israeli government.
