On Sunday, the Israeli government approved a plan to surge the settler population of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which comes after Israeli troops captured more land inside Syria following the downfall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The plan will spend $11 million to encourage the expansion of illegal settlements in the Golan Heights. The territory is currently populated by about 31,000 Jewish settlers and 24,000 mainly Druze Arabs, who consider themselves Syrian.
“Strengthening the Golan is strengthening the State of Israel, and it is especially important at this time,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “We will continue to hold onto it, cause it to blossom, and settle in it.”
Israel first captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and declared its sovereignty over the land in 1981, a move not recognized by any country until the Trump administration did so in 2019.
Since Assad fled Syria and the al-Qaeda-linked HTS took over Damascus, Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes in Syria and has taken control of a buffer zone that separated the occupied Golan Heights and the rest of Syria. Israeli troops have also invaded territory on the other side of the buffer zone and are reportedly only 15 kilometers from Damascus.
The plan to expand settlements in the Golan Heights applies only to the territory Israel controlled before Assad’s downfall, but there are signs that Israel could eventually settle the land it recently seized, which settler groups already have their eye on.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Friday that Israeli troops will remain in the territory, which includes Mount Hermon, through the winter. “Given what is happening in Syria, there is great security importance for us to remain on the top of Mount Hermon, a strategic location overlooking Damascus,” Katz said.
The US has backed Israel’s land grab in Syria, claiming it as a defensive action and insisting it will only be a temporary occupation.
