Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
Defense Minister Israel Katz said on August 26 that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) would not retreat from positions on Mount Hermon and in other areas in southern Syria.
Writing on X, Katz said “the IDF will remain on the summit of [Mount] Hermon and in the security zone that is vital to defending communities in the Golan and Galilee from threats emanating from the Syrian side.”
The military’s need to maintain a presence in southern Syria is a “central lesson from the events of October 7,” the minister added.
Following the fall of the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad last December, Israel took over the buffer zone adjacent to the occupied Golan Heights in southern Syria, including Mount Hermon. The IDF established nine strategic posts there, including two on the mountain.
Israel later demanded the complete demilitarization of the region, and vowed to protect Druze there, citing its historic relations with its own Druze community.
In the same post on X, Katz emphasized once again that Israel would also continue to defend the Druze community in Syria.
Syria’s Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa confirmed to Arab journalists he met on August 24 that his government was in “advanced” talks with Israel on a security agreement. Sky News Arabic quoted Sharaa as saying that any deal would be based on the lines set under the United Nations-sponsored 1974 Agreement on Disengagement between Israel and Syria that followed the war of 1973.
On the same day a report by Israel Channel 12 listed the principles of the security agreement expected to be signed by Syria and Israel.
The agreement would include, according to the report, the demilitarization of the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, the prevention of the restoration of the Syrian military, the barring of entry of any weapons into Syria that would threaten Israel, and the establishment of a humanitarian corridor to the Jabal al-Druze region of Syria. In exchange, the U.S. and Gulf countries will supposedly work on the rehabilitation of the war-torn country.
Sharaa then on August 25 discussed recent developments with United States Special Envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack in Damascus. Just a day earlier, Barrack was in Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Barrack told US news outlet Axios that Israel and Syria “have mutual intent and desire but at the moment, there is still more work to do” on a security agreement.
“Constructive dialogue between these nation states is the on ramp to a long-lasting understanding that will be the preface to stability and prosperity in the region,” he added.
Despite the reported progress, Syria, which showed willingness to make major concessions, faced more escalation from the IDF.
On August 25, the Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned what it alleged was an attempt by Israel to expand its sphere of control around Mount Hermon, saying 60 troops had deployed on a strategic hilltop that overlooks the town of Beit Jinn. Syrian media claimed Israel arrested six Syrians, which was denied by the IDF.
“This dangerous escalation is considered a direct threat to regional peace and security,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Syrian media reported more escalation on August 26, with an Israeli strike on the town of Tranjah in al-Qunitra governorate killing a man.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the strike and other violations, saying in a statement that “these aggressive practices constitute a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter, international law, and relevant Security Council resolutions, and pose a direct threat to peace and security in the region.”
The recent escalation by the IDF and Katz’s remarks indicate that Israel is trying to get even more concessions from Syria, which appears to be getting nothing whatsoever out of its attempt to engage politically with Israel.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com
russia betrayed syria and that is why all this horror of genocide is happening now.
bollocks! some syrians betrayed syria and julani.
mia you are betraying sanity every day. please just die already.
well done julani you mossad wanker.
israel is just a military base to rule and control the region. populated by programmed bot army incapable of seeing this . a cult without the simple ability to even determine right from wrong
perhaps climate change will cause the downfall of the treacherous hts regime. syria should become a desert due to global warming so that hts can only eat sand and its supporters.
where the shit you got that from? aliens committing country dancing enmass in alaska is more credible than anything you say.
i don’t like jew(lani) either, but please: be reasonable.
syria is failed israel colony