5 min ago
Netanyahu orders Israeli military to seize Syria buffer zone
From CNN's Mike Schwartz and Mick Krever
Israeli tanks take position on the border with Syria near the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights on December 8.
Jalaa Marey/AFP/Getty Images
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that he had ordered the military to “take control” of the buffer zone that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from the rest of Syria.
It would be the first time Israeli troops would be stationed in the buffer zone since a 1974 agreement establishing the line of control between Israel and Syria, though they have in the past entered the no-man’s land for brief periods.
Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and annexed it in 1981. Most international powers, except for the United States, recognize it as occupied Syrian territory.
“Together with the defense minister, and with full backing from the cabinet, I directed the IDF yesterday to take control of the buffer zone and the dominant positions near it,” Netanyahu said while visiting the Golan Heights. “We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border.”
The Israel Defense Forces announced the deployment, saying it was done “to ensure the safety of the communities of the Golan Heights and the citizens of Israel” after Syrian troops reportedly abandoned their posts. The military’s statement added that “the IDF is not interfering with the internal events in Syria.”
Netanyahu also said that the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria was “a direct result” of Israel’s military campaign against Iran and its proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah. “This is a historic day in the history of the Middle East,” he said. Israel is “pursuing a policy of good neighborliness,” he said.