Israel deploys troops in Golan Heights demilitarised zone

Cairo — Israel on Sunday took control of the demilitarised buffer zone in the Golan Heights, saying it was to protect Israeli communities there after the overthrow of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad.

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said during a televised address by the border with Syria after Assad’s ouster that Israel was determined to provide security to the communities of the Golan Heights.

The UN-monitored buffer zone in the Golan Heights was established in a 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Assad’s “historic” fall was a direct result of blows Israel had dealt to Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, once the linchpin of Assad’s security forces but pounded by Israel over the past two months.

Netanyahu said he had ordered troops to enter the buffer zone and protect positions nearby from the Israeli-occupied part of the Golan.

He said the deployment was ordered after Syrian troops abandoned their posts. “We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border,” he said.

Netanyahu also said the toppling of Assad could make it easier for Israel to reach a ceasefire deal to free hostages in Gaza.

Two regional security sources told Reuters on Sunday Israel conducted air strikes in the Syrian capital Damascus, targeting a security complex and a government research centre that it has said was used by Iran to develop missiles.

Israeli officials have expressed concern that chemical weapons and other prohibited munitions and missiles that Syria had kept for decades could now fall into the hands of the Islamist-led rebels who stormed into Damascus.

Sunday’s strikes caused extensive damage to the main customs headquarters and buildings adjoining the military intelligence offices within the security complex, which is located in the Kafr Sousa district of Damascus, the sources said. 

Reuters