Israel has deployed tanks into the buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights along its border with Syria following a swift advance by Syrian opposition forces that ended Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
“Together with the Defense Minister and with full backing from the Cabinet, I instructed the IDF yesterday to take control of the buffer zone and the key positions near it,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced during a visit to the Golan Heights.
“We will not permit any hostile force to establish itself on our border,” he added.
This marks the first deployment of Israeli troops into the buffer zone since it was designated as a line of control under a 1974 agreement between Israel and Syria. While Israeli forces have briefly entered the zone on previous occasions, it has mostly been patrolled by United Nations peacekeepers.
Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 war and formally annexed the territory in 1981, a move not recognized internationally.
Netanyahu stated that the 1974 agreement effectively collapsed with the fall of the Assad regime and the retreat of Syrian troops, making the Israeli takeover necessary to secure the area.
