Israel has instructed soldiers to get ready to spend the winter on Mount Hermon, a strategic peak inside a buffer zone that has been shared with Syria for decades but that Israeli forces have taken control of since the fall of the Assad administration.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement widely reported by Israeli media and the AFP news agency that “our holding of the Hermon peak is of great security importance due to what is happening in Syria and everything must be done to ensure the IDF’s preparations in the area, to allow the troops to stay there in the difficult weather conditions.”
Although Israel has stated that its presence in the buffer zone is only temporary, worries have increased in light of what UN chief António Guterres called “severe violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” on Thursday, when he asked for Israeli forces to leave the area.
Katz posted a picture on X on Friday, claiming to be with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they used binoculars to view the Syrian summit of Mount Hermon, which he said had “returned to Israeli control after 51 years.”
He wrote, “An exciting historical moment,”
Guterres issued the warning, calling for an immediate de-escalation “on all fronts, throughout Syria.” He was especially concerned about the hundreds of Israeli strikes on sites throughout Syria in the days since the overthrow of the Assad administration, which crowds in Damascus celebrated Friday.
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