Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that Israel will “indefinitely” occupy areas of southern Syria it captured after the the regime change in Damascus that ousted former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Katz made the comments while visiting Israeli troops on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, which is located on the Syria-Lebanon border. “The IDF will remain at the summit of the Hermon and the security zone indefinitely to ensure the security of the communities of the Golan Heights and the north and all the residents of Israel,” he said.
Israel has occupied the Golan Heights since 1967 and annexed the Syrian territory in 1981, a move not recognized by any country until the first Trump administration did so in 2019.
Israel began its latest land grab in Syria by capturing a buffer zone between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and the rest of Syria that was patrolled by UN peacekeepers. The invading Israeli forces have also captured several towns and villages in Syria’s Quneitra Governorate.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu celebrated and took credit for the overthrow of Assad since he was an ally of Iran and Hezbollah. But Israel has also used the takeover of Syria by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an offshoot of al-Qaeda, to invade and capture the land in the south. Israel also launched massive airstrikes in Syria to destroy military equipment.
“We will not allow hostile forces to establish themselves in the security zone in southern Syria… we will act against any threat,” Katz said atop Mount Hermon. “We will not be dependent on others for our security.”
