The defense minister of Israel has now reportedly indicated that the country intends to maintain a more stringent and long-term security control over the territory in Syria and Gaza that is adjacent to its border.
This strategy is intended to leverage the country’s weakened neighbors to better protect itself from potential dangers.
After the Assad regime, which had governed Syria for more than half a century, collapsed just over a week ago, Israel seized control of the 155-square-mile buffer zone that separated it from Syria.
It also stationed soldiers on the summit of Mt. Hermon, a high point in the buffer zone that provides a commanding view of strategically sensitive territory.
On Tuesday, Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed soldiers to establish fortifications and prepare for an extended stay while visiting the buffer zone and peak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He referred to the peak as “the eyes of the state of Israel.”
The rebel leader who led the assault that ousted the Assad regime, Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, stated in an interview on Monday that there was no justification for Israel’s military to have forces in Syria.
Katz referred to the separatists as extremists and asserted that they required dissuasion.
The U.N. and other countries, including France, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, and Jordan, condemned Israel’s entry into the buffer zone, which was established by a 1974 agreement between Israel and Syria that designated United Nations peacekeepers to be stationed there.
They interpreted this action as a violation of international law that endangered Syria’s territorial integrity. Israel has declared the agreement null and invalid as a result of the Syrian soldiers’ departure from their positions amid the regime’s collapse.
In the interim, indicators that Israel is preparing for an indefinite presence in the Gaza Strip continued to increase. Katz stated that the military would maintain security control over the enclave in the same manner as it does in the occupied West Bank.
Some Israelis and Palestinians are concerned that security control could result in a long-term military occupation of the enclave.
This would necessitate a substantial and expensive contingent of forces and would leave Israel with the responsibility of overseeing a civilian government for a population of approximately two million.
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