Israeli tanks deployed near the buffer zone on the Syrian Golan Heights, Dec. 8, 2024. (Credit: Jalaa Marey/AFP)
The Israeli army announced on Monday morning that its troops had entered the Syrian side of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights, barely 24 hours after the Damascus regime fell to a swift rebel offensive.
The entry of these Israeli soldiers is “part of its deployment in the buffer zone,” said the Israeli army, citing the need to “protect the security of the citizens of the occupied Golan” and the rest of Israel. “The army is not involved in the events in Syria and will continue to work to protect the buffer zone,” said Arabic-speaking Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee on the X network.
This is the first time Israel has seized territory in Syria since the 1973 war.
A few days to a few weeks
According to the Axios media outlet, Israel has informed the United States in advance of its operation, which aims to take control of the buffer zone on the border with Syria and several other key sites on the Syrian side of the border. Israel told the Biden administration that this was a temporary operation that would last from a few days to a few weeks, until the situation stabilized along the border, Israeli and U.S. officials said.
The advance of Israeli troops into Syria's buffer zone is “a limited and temporary measure,” stated Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, quoted by AFP. “I insist on this: This is a limited and temporary measure that we have taken for security reasons,” Saar told a press conference in Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that he had ordered the army to “take control” of the buffer zone after the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
'Violation of international law'
Jordan, for its part, denounced the deployment. “We condemn the fact that Israel has entered Syrian territory and taken control of the buffer zone,” Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told parliament in Amman. He denounced “an aggression” that represents “a violation of international law, an unacceptable escalation and an attack on the sovereignty of an Arab state.” “We categorically reject this aggression and affirm that when we speak of Syria's unity, territorial integrity and cohesion. This also includes its borders with Israel,” Syria's and Jordan's neighboring country.
On Sunday, the Israeli army had imposed a curfew on the inhabitants of several Syrian Golan localities, including Ofania, Quneitra, Hamidieh, Samdanieh al-Gharbieh and Qahtanieh, calling on them “to stay at home and not to go out until further notice.” Avichay Adraee had written, “The fighting in your areas has forced us to intervene."
