Israeli tanks take up position on the border with Syria, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams, on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Dec. 8, 2024. (Credit: Jalaa Marey/AFP)
On Sunday, as Damascus celebrated the end of 54 years of Assad family rule after a rebel offensive led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his troops to seize a ‘buffer zone’ in the Golan Heights. Israeli forces swiftly took positions in villages within the demilitarized zone and deployed soldiers on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, a strategic site overlooking much of southern Syria, including the capital, Damascus. "We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border," said Netanyahu, asserting that the withdrawal of Syrian troops from the region necessitated Israeli intervention, a move that is a direct violation of the 1974 Israel-Syria cease-fire. Read more In Damascus, Jolani negotiates his grip on power A fragile agreement The disengagement agreement,...
On Sunday, as Damascus celebrated the end of 54 years of Assad family rule after a rebel offensive led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his troops to seize a ‘buffer zone’ in the Golan Heights. Israeli forces swiftly took positions in villages within the demilitarized zone and deployed soldiers on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, a strategic site overlooking much of southern Syria, including the capital, Damascus. "We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border," said Netanyahu, asserting that the withdrawal of Syrian troops from the region necessitated Israeli intervention, a move that is a direct violation of the 1974 Israel-Syria cease-fire. Read more In Damascus, Jolani negotiates his grip on power A fragile agreement The disengagement...
