Jerusalem, Feb 24 (IANS) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel will maintain an indefinite military presence at the peak of Mount Hermon and in the buffer zone along the Syrian border.
The Israel Defense Forces “will remain at the top of Mount Hermon and the buffer zone indefinitely to protect our settlements and thwart any threat,” said Netanyahu at an officers’ course graduation ceremony in Holon city, south of Tel Aviv, Xinhua news agency reported.
Netanyahu called on Syria’s new government to implement a “full demilitarisation” of southern Syria, including the provinces of Quneitra, Daraa, and As-Suwayda.
He also warned that Israel “would not permit” forces affiliated with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a militant group led by Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, or the new Syrian army to enter the area south of Damascus.
In December, following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government, Israel deployed ground forces into the buffer zone, a demilitarized area between the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights and Syria.
The buffer zone is monitored by the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which was established under the 1974 Agreement on Disengagement. Israel later captured the Syrian-controlled side of Mount Hermon.
Earlier in February, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called on the US to continue supporting the Lebanese army with equipment and resources to help it carry out its national security duties, particularly in southern Lebanon.
During a meeting with a US congressional delegation led by congressman Darrell Issa in Beirut, Aoun also urged Washington to pressure Israel to complete its withdrawal from five remaining points it still occupies in southern Lebanon, according to a statement released by Lebanon’s presidency.
–IANS
int/rs