Far-right Israeli government ordered occupation troops Friday, December 13, to prepare to remain throughout winter on Mount Hermon — a strategic peak inside a buffer zone that has existed for decades with Syria, but which Israeli forces have seized after the Assad regime’s fall.

“Hands off Syria, Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian territories”, left activists blocking Kaplan Street in Tel-Aviv, in front the army’s headquarters. Two Hadash members were arrested by cops, Wednesday 11, 2024 (Photo: Voices against war)

“Due to what is happening in Syria, there is a huge security importance to our holding of the Hermon peak, and everything must be done to ensure the army’s preparations in the area, to allow the troops to stay there in the difficult weather conditions,” Defense Minister Israel Katz says in a statement.

Israel has said its deployment to the buffer zone was temporary and defensive, but concerns have grown over what United Nations chief António Guterres on Thursday called “extensive violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” as he urged Israeli forces to withdraw from the buffer zone.

Several countries, including France and the United Arab Emirates, have condemned Israel’s occupation, calling it a breach of the agreement that followed the 1973 war. But the United States has offered its support, saying the move was “necessary for Israel’s self-defense.”

In addition, the Communist Party of Israel and Hadash said last Wednesday, that Israel must withdraw forces from the buffer zone separating the occupied Golan Heights from Syrian territory. “Any military deployment in the separation zone between Israel and Syria is a violation of the disengagement agreement of 1974. We call on Israel to withdraw from the zone and to respect Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” a spokesman says.

Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=32314