Israeli army establishes military posts on Mount Hermon in occupied Syrian Golan Heights

The Israeli army has established two military posts on the top of Mount Hermon (Jabal Al-Sheikh) in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, Israeli media said on Wednesday.

According to Israeli Army Radio, one of the posts is an abandoned Syrian site that Israel has occupied. “Israel will not leave the Syrian Mount Hermon until further notice,” it added.

A UN post manned by peacekeepers from Nepal is near the two Israeli military posts, but the UN force does not engage with the Israeli army, said the broadcaster.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz toured the area and said that the army is prepared to stay in Syria for an “unlimited” amount of time.

“We will hold the security area in Hermon and make sure that all the security zone in southern Syria is demilitarised and clear of weapons and threats,” said Katz, who claimed to be “protecting the Druze” community in south-west Syria.

The Israeli minister also issued a barely-veiled threat to interim Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, saying that, “We are here and in the entire security area of southern Syria, to protect the Golan and Galilee residents against any of his threats and those of his jihadist friends.”

After the fall of the Bashar Al-Assad regime in December, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarised buffer zone, a move that violated the 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria.

Israel also took advantage of the Syrian regime’s fall to launch hundreds of air strikes that targeted military sites across Syria, destroying fighter jets, missile systems and air defence installations, according to reports.

The radio said that the Israeli army holds an area up to 15 kilometres deep within Syria, where some 40,000 Syrian residents live in the demilitarised area.

On Sunday, Katz said that Tel Aviv will soon allow Syrians from the Druze community to enter Israel for work.

Israel has occupied the Syrian Golan Heights since the June 1967 war. It annexed the territory in a move not recognised by the UN or under international law.

READ: UN welcomes Syria deal to united Kurdish and state forces