Israel will remain on the strategic Mount Hermon site on the border with Syrian border till another arrangement is found, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said.
Israeli troops occupied Mount Hermon when they moved into a demilitarized zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights following the collapse of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government this month.
Officials have described the move as a limited and temporary measure to ensure the security of Israel’s borders but have given no indication of when the troops might be withdrawn and Defence Minister Israel Katz last week ordered troops to prepare to remain on Mount Hermon over the winter.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu went to the site for an operational briefing with military commanders and security officials.
“We are holding this assessment in order to decide on the deployment of the IDF in this important place until another arrangement is found that ensures Israel’s security,” he said in a statement issued by his office late on Tuesday, referring to the Israel Defence Forces.
Israel’s move into the buffer zone created following the 1973 Arab-Israeli war has been criticized as a violation of international agreements by a number of countries and the United Nations, which have called for the troops to be withdrawn.
Israel has decided to double the population on the occupied Golan Heights while saying threats from Syria remained despite the moderate tone of rebel leaders who ousted President Bashar al-Assad a week ago.
“Strengthening the Golan is strengthening the State of Israel, and it is especially important at this time. We will continue to hold onto it, cause it to blossom, and settle in it,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
Israel captured most of the strategic Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War, annexing it in 1981.
In 2019 then-President Donald Trump declared U.S. support for Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, but the annexation has not been recognised by most countries. Syria demands that Israel withdraw but Israel refuses, citing security concerns.
Team Bharatshakti
(With inputs from Reuters)
