Netanyahu tours buffer zone inside Syria seized by Israeli forces
17 December 2024, 17:24
The Israeli prime minister became the first incumbent Israeli leader to set foot in the neighbouring country.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu entered Syrian territory on Tuesday during a security tour of the buffer zone seized by Israel in the days since the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.
It was apparently the first time a sitting Israeli leader had entered Syrian territory.
Israel seized a swathe of southern Syria along the border with the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, calling it a buffer zone, in the days after Mr Assad was ousted by rebels.
Israel still controls the Golan Heights that it captured from Syria during the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed — a move not recognised by most of the international community.
Mr Netanyau and defence minister Israel Katz visited the snow-dusted summit of Mount Hermon, the highest peak in the area, which is located inside Syrian territory.
Mr Katz added that Israel will maintain a presence in the Syrian buffer zone “for as long as is required” and had instructed the Israeli military to quickly establish a presence including fortifications, in anticipation of what could be an extended stay in the area.
“The summit of the Hermon is the eyes of the state of Israel to identify our enemies who are nearby and far away,” Mr Katz said.
Israeli forces were moving to control a roughly 155-square-mile demilitarised buffer zone in Syrian territory.
The buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights was created by the UN. after the 1973 Middle East war.
A UN force of about 1,100 troops has patrolled the area since then.
Mount Hermon is divided between the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, Lebanon, and Syria.
Only the United States recognises Israel’s control of the Golan Heights.
