Israel wasted no time after Bashar al-Assad’s fall to bomb all of the Syrian navy belongings it wished to maintain out of the rebels’ arms – placing almost 500 targets, destroying the navy, and taking out, it claims, 90% of Syria’s recognized surface-to-air missiles.
But it’s Israel’s seize of Syria’s highest peak, the Mount Hermon summit, which will show among the many most lasting prizes – although officers have insisted that its occupation is momentary.
“This is the very best place within the area, wanting upon Lebanon, upon Syria, Israel,” mentioned Efraim Inbar, director of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS). “It’s strategically extraordinarily necessary. There is not any substitute for mountains.”
Israeli armored autos on the demilitarized buffer zone within the Golan Heights. – Matias Delacroix/AP
The summit of Mount Hermon lies in Syria, in a buffer zone that separated Israeli and Syrian forces for 50 years till final weekend, when Israeli troops took management of it. Until Sunday, the summit was demilitarized and patrolled by UN peacekeepers – their highest everlasting place on the planet.
Israel’s protection minister, Israel Katz, on Friday ordered the navy to organize for the tough circumstances of winter deployment. “Due to developments in Syria, it’s of immense safety significance to keep up our management over the summit of Mount Hermon,” he mentioned in a press release.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has superior past the summit, so far as Beqaasem, about 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) from the Syrian capital, in accordance with Voice of the Capital, a Syrian activist group. CNN couldn’t independently affirm that declare. An Israeli navy spokesperson this week denied that forces have been “advancing towards” Damascus.
Israeli artillery on Mount Hermon in 1974. – Alain Dejean/Sygma/Getty Images
Israel captured the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau in southwestern Syria that abuts Mount Hermon, within the 1967 conflict and has occupied it since. Syria tried to retake the territory in a shock assault in 1973, however failed, and Israel annexed it in 1981. The occupation is against the law beneath worldwide regulation, however the United States acknowledged Israel’s declare on the Golan in the course of the Trump administration.
Israel has for many years held some decrease slopes of Mount Hermon, and even operates a ski resort there, however the peak remained in Syria correct.
“We haven’t any intention to intervene in Syria’s inside affairs,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned in a video days after Israel bombed a whole bunch of Syrian targets and seized the demilitarized buffer zone. “But we actually intend to do all the things essential to deal with our safety.”
Mount Hermon’s summit is an incredible asset beneath Israel’s management. At 9,232 ft (2,814 meters), it’s larger than any level in Syria or Israel, and second to just one peak in Lebanon.
“People generally say within the age of missiles, land will not be necessary – it’s merely unfaithful,” Inbar mentioned.
In a tutorial paper printed in 2011, he wrote of the various benefits introduced by Mount Hermon.
“It allows using digital surveillance deep into Syrian territory, giving Israel early-warning capability in case of an impending assault,” he wrote. Advanced technological alternate options like airborne surveillance, he argued, was merely not comparable. “In distinction to an set up on a mountain, these can’t carry heavy gear equivalent to massive antennas, and they are often shot down by anti-air missiles.”
Israeli navy forces on Mount Hermon on Sunday. – Social Media
The peak is simply over 35 kilometers (about 22 miles) from Damascus, which implies that management of its Syrian foothills – additionally now in IDF arms – put the Syrian capital inside vary for artillery cannons.
The Israeli prime minister has mentioned his “hand is prolonged” to the brand new authorities in Syria. But within the post-October 7 world, he and different nationwide safety heavyweights have made clear they aren’t going to take any possibilities.
“Mostly, it’s a consolation for us,” retired Brigadier General Israel Ziv mentioned of Israel’s operations in Syria. “We have discovered what occurred in different nations when you have got a terror group that captures navy gear.”
Netanyahu has additionally insisted that the occupation is momentary. “Israel is not going to allow jihadi teams to fill that vacuum and threaten Israeli communities on the Golan Heights with October 7 type assaults,” he mentioned. His standards for withdrawing, he mentioned, was a Syrian pressure “that’s dedicated to the 1974 settlement might be established and safety on our border might be assured.”
It is unclear when which may be achieved.
Whether the navy withdraws “is a political choice,” Inbar mentioned. “The navy would love to remain there.”
Mike Schwartz and Tim Lister contributed to this report.
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