Since the Assad regime collapsed about two weeks ago, his army has seized a strategic mountaintop in the disputed border region with and advanced to positions beyond it, reshaping the border between the two countries.
The expanded army position atop Mount Hermon, which straddles the so-called disengagement zone, gives Israel a clear line of sight to the Syrian capital, Damascus, 25 miles away. Israeli troops and tanks, operating openly in Syria for the first time in 50 years. According to what residents of the area complain, they are trying to disarm the population located in the southern part of the country.
United Nations observers spotted Israeli flags on parts of the mountain captured by Israel from Syria. In fact, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister visited the newly acquired territory on Tuesday, taking pictures and filming videos there.
“For the security of Israel”
Netanyahu said troops would remain in the no-fly zone and on the Syrian side of the mountain until “another arrangement is found that ensures Israel’s security.”
The placement creates a bigger cushion between Israel’s citizens and whatever emerges in Syria after Bashar al-Assad is ousted from the presidency. But it also creates a potential flashpoint with Syria’s future rulers and has drawn criticism from the United Nations, as well as European and Arab governments, which do not recognize Israel’s partial annexation of the Golan Heights in 1981.
Israeli troops have taken over some abandoned Syrian army positions beyond the dead zone and are moving through rural areas in personnel carriers and tanks, according to residents and online images verified by Storyful.
“Israeli soldiers are walking among us, tanks are stationed here and reconnaissance units are roaming freely,” said a former Free Syrian Army commander in the village of Qarqas, which lies beyond the dead zone and overlooks the area towards Damascus. “I see Israelis with my own eyes every day,” he said.
The historic opportunity that Netanyahu sees
The abrupt end of the Assad family’s 54-year rule in Syria has strengthened Islamist groups with past ties to al-Qaeda and Islamic State and raised the specter of further unrest after 13 years of civil war. Israel now sees a historic opportunity to reshape its borders and strengthen its posture in the region, senior Israeli officials and regional analysts say.
Rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani criticized Israel’s attacks on Syrian military installations and its presence inside Syria. “The strikes against Iranian-backed militias were justified, but they must stop now that the threat has been removed,” he told reporters on Monday.
“There is no justification for the Israelis to bomb Syrian installations or advance inside Syria,” he said, adding that he did not wish to go to war against Israel.
Israeli troops last publicly crossed into Syria during the 1973 war, when Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack that Israel eventually repelled to retain control of most of the Golan Heights. Much of the international community, including the UN, still considers the Golan Heights to be occupied Syrian territory, although the first Trump administration recognized Israel’s sovereignty there in 2019.
Israeli Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli, who is from Netanyahu’s Likud party, said Israel must “make the necessary corrections on the northern border, the dead zone, the Syrian Hermon and those areas.” In fact, he went on to say that “there are amazing opportunities and a supportive administration is coming,” referring to President-elect Trump
They are sending drone audio messages to Syrian local representatives
Israeli troops often send drones with loudspeakers into residential areas, asking to speak with local representatives, who are reluctant to meet them, according to residents.
In those meetings, residents said, Israeli soldiers tried to reassure residents that their presence was temporary to confiscate weapons and secure the border. But villagers say they do not trust the soldiers and some have fled the area.
In some villages, Israelis have searched homes and confiscated weapons, residents say. They have also tried to collect the identity cards of farmers and herders to facilitate their movement into areas now controlled by the military. Heavy military vehicles have damaged roads and infrastructure in some areas, temporarily knocking out electricity, power and phone lines, residents say.
Israel said it captured the mountaintop and adjacent Syrian territory after a 1974 ceasefire agreement was scrapped when Syrian army troops fled as the Assad regime collapsed. The rebels who seized Damascus said, however, that they were not disbanding the Syrian army. The UN and some international law experts say the fall of the regime does not absolve Israel of its bilateral commitments.
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