JERUSALEM — Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the country's
military forces will remain in Syria for an "unlimited time."
"The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) will remain at the
summit of Mount Hermon and in the buffer zone indefinitely," Katz said
during a visit to military posts established by Israel at the Mount Hermon
summit on Tuesday.
He claimed that the move is aimed "to ensure the
security of Israel's citizens."
"I came here to ensure that the IDF is well-prepared
in defence and offence for prolonged deployment at the Mount Hermon
posts," he said.
Katz said Israel is determined to prevent Iran-linked
forces and other groups not allied with Israel from gaining a foothold in
southern Syria, reports Xinhua news agency.
"We will not allow hostile forces to establish
themselves in the buffer zone in southern Syria -- from here to the
Suwayda-Damascus axis -- and we will not rely on others for our defence,"
he said. "We will maintain ties with friendly populations in the area,
with an emphasis on the large Druze community."
At 2,814 meters, Mount Hermon's summit is the highest
point on the eastern Mediterranean coast, overlooking Israel, Syria, and
Lebanon.
Israel had already occupied a lower part of the Golan
Heights in the 1967 Middle East war, however, later, annexed it in a move not
recognised by most of the international community.
In December, in the wake of the fall of Bashar al-Assad's
government, Israel sent ground forces into the buffer zone, a demilitarised
area monitored by the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, which was
established by the 1974 Agreement on Disengagement between Israel and Syria. Later,
Israel also seized Syrian army posts at the mountain's peak.
Israel has bombed around 500 Syrian sites with military
assets, including navy facilities and surface-to-air missile systems, claiming
the strikes were aimed at preventing weapons from falling into the hands of
rebel groups.
