The Israeli government has approved a plan to encourage the expansion of settlements in the occupied Golan Heights, the BBC reports. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the move was necessary because a “new front” had opened on the border between Israel and Syria after the fall of the Assad regime to an Islamist-led rebel alliance. Mr. Netanyahu has said he wants to double the population of the Golan Heights, which Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War and which is considered illegally occupied under international law.
New Syrian authorities accused Israel of illegal military intervention on December 15, as Israeli forces continue their operations in southern Syria, Syria TV reported.
Israel has carried out more than 800 airstrikes in Syria since the departure of Bashar al-Assad on December 8. With air force, navy and army bases destroyed further south, Israeli troops are slowly closing in on Damascus, declaring a “barren buffer zone” between the two countries in the Golan region.
“We do not intend to enter into conflict with Israel,” Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, said in a televised address, his first public comment on Israeli military actions since coming to power last week. Mr. al-Sharaa said Israel no longer had any reason to strike Syria, citing the departure of Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian forces from Syrian territory.
On the night of December 14, Israeli air forces carried out more than 50 strikes in Syria, including on targets in Damascus, according to military sources, even as al-Sharaa called Assad’s withdrawal a “victory.” on dangerous Iranian political projects in the region.
The Israeli army entered many areas previously under the control of the Syrian government, with the 474th Golan Brigade, Special Forces Unit 510 “Shaldag” and the 810th Reserve Brigade conducting ground operations which helped secure the least 20 localities in the provinces of Quneitra and rural Damascus, according to military sources.
“Israel’s justifications for intervention appear weak,” a Syrian opposition representative said on Syria TV, calling for diplomatic solutions while acknowledging the country’s war weariness.
Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi defended the operations during a visit to troops in the Golan Heights. “We are not intervening in what is happening in Syria. We have no intention of managing Syria,” Mr. Halevi said. “We are unequivocally intervening in what determines the security of Israeli citizens here.
The Israeli military has struck deals with Druze villages in southern Syria to collect weapons, while preparing contingency plans in case of larger advances. “In the event of new developments, the Israeli military is also preparing for scenarios requiring the capture of additional areas in southern Syria,” a senior Israeli military source said.
Israeli forces reportedly took control of several strategic points, including Mazraat Beit Jinn in rural Damascus province and the town of Khan Arnabeh, while establishing checkpoints in the area.
The Israeli army has reduced civil defense mobilization in the Golan Heights, sending most readiness units home while maintaining their weapons and alert status, while regular forces occupy defensive positions on along the border.
The military developments come as Syria grapples with a political transition following the departure of President Bashar al-Assad on December 8.
