It seems that the Zionist entity, whose appetite for expansionism has risen, is planning for an open-ended occupation in Syria, with Zionist officials making remarks on long-term military control of the territory seized by the occupation army just after the fall of former president Bashar Al-Assad’s government in Syria. Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation military carried out more incursions on Wednesday in the country’s south, outside the buffer zone, which was established in 1974.
Syrian media reported on Wednesday that the Israeli occupation forces raided the towns of Saida Al-Golan and Saida Al-Hanout south of Quneitra in the occupied Golan.
دبابات وآليات إسرائيلية تدخل قرية صيدا بالجولان#الجزيرة_سوريا pic.twitter.com/6iqr73RmzF
— قناة الجزيرة (@AJArabic) December 18, 2024
After deploying more forces and vehicles in the area, the occupation forces raided houses in these two towns and carried out inspections, according to local media.
Israeli armoured vehicles on Tuesday entered the vicinity of Saida al-Golan, a village south of the Quneitra governorate, according to local media reports. The area is beyond the disengagement line between Israel and Syria agreed in 1974. pic.twitter.com/eHvI1aVYuf
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) December 17, 2024
On the other hand, Hebrew media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the occupation military to stay in the buffer zone seized last week till the end of 2025.
Israeli Channel 12 reported that the “Israeli army received orders from PM Netanyahu to stay in Mount Hermon till the end of 2025.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Netanyahu said ‘Israel’ would remain inside the buffer zone, “until another arrangement can be found that guarantees Israel’s security”.
“We will stay … until another arrangement is found that ensures Israel’s security,” said Netanyahu who had traveled to the buffer zone on Tuesday with Defense Minister Israel Katz.
Netanyahu made the comments from the summit of Mount Hermon — the highest peak in the area — inside Syria, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border with the Israel-held Golan Heights.
The Israeli premier said he had been on the same mountaintop 53 years ago as a soldier.
Israel seized a swath of southern Syria along the border with the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights days after Assad was ousted by rebels last week.
Israel’s capture of the buffer zone, a roughly 400-square-kilometer (155-square-mile) demilitarized area in Syrian territory, has sparked condemnation, with critics accusing Israel of violating a 1974 ceasefire and possibly exploiting the chaos in Syria in the wake of new events in Syria to make a land grab.
The buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights was created by the U.N. after the 1973 Mideast war. A UN force of about 1,100 troops had patrolled the area since then.
Source: Israeli and Syrian media (translated and edited by Al-Manar English Website)
