The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) reached the town of Qatana in rural Damascus on December 10, after they advanced almost 25 kilometers into southern Syria, 10 kilometers beyond the Golan Heights demilitarized buffer zone.
IOF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani denied on Tuesday that the IOF had penetrated Syrian territory significantly beyond the demilitarized buffer zone. “This is not something we are doing or pursuing in any way,” Shoshani said. “We are not involved in what’s happening in Syria internally, we are not a side in this conflict and we do not have any interest other than protecting our borders and the security of our citizens.”
As the IOF’s incursion into the buffer zone is considered a flagrant violation of a 1974 disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria, any incursion beyond the buffer zone is also considered an assault on the sovereignty of the Syrian state. Israel’s seizure of the Golan Heights buffer zone was widely condemned by the United Nations, Arab countries, and Iran.
It is worth noting that the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which is a peacekeeping mission set up after the Arab-Israeli war in 1973 (also known as the October War), has been designated to monitor the buffer zone between Israel and Syria.
The UNDOF informed Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, on Monday, December 9, that the IOF “entered the area of separation” and “remained in at least three locations throughout the area of separation.”
According to Dujarric, “the peacekeepers at UNDOF informed the Israeli counterparts that these actions would constitute a violation of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement that there should be no military forces or activities in the area of separation.” The spokesperson also added that this also reflects the position of the UN Secretary-General.
Israel claims self-defense, again.
To justify its incursion of the Golan Heights, Israel has resorted to the same overused pretext of self-defense. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated during a news conference that the IOF’s presence in the Golan Heights buffer zone ensures Israel’s “security and sovereignty.”
Netanyahu even went beyond this, saying that, “the Golan will be part of the State of Israel for eternity.” He also expressed his gratitude to US President-elect Donald Trump for recognizing Israel’s annexation of the territory in 1981, during his first term in 2019.
“After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability,” Trump tweeted at the time.
The US support for Netanyahu in occupying the Golan Heights has not been limited to Trump as the Biden’s administration also backed Israel in doing so, considering that an act of self-defense. The spokesperson for the US Department of State Matthew Miller said during a press briefing on Monday that Israel invaded the Golan Heights because “the Syrian army abandoned its positions in the area around the negotiated Israeli-Syrian buffer zone, which potentially creates a vacuum that could have been filled by terrorist organizations that would threaten the state of Israel.”
Arab countries speak up
Countries including Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Egypt issued statements on Monday strongly condemning Israel’s seizure of the demilitarized buffer zone in Syria’s Golan Heights.
Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Israel’s action “constitutes an obvious violation of Syria’s sovereignty and a clear breach of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement.” The Qatari Foreign Ministry condemned Israel for its “blatant attack on Syria’s sovereignty and unity as well as a flagrant violation of international law.”
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that “the assaults carried out by the Israeli occupation government, including the seizure of the buffer zone in the Golan Heights and the targeting of Syrian territories by Israeli occupation forces, affirm Israel’s continued violation of international law and its determination to undermine opportunities for Syria to restore its security, stability, and territorial integrity.”
Meanwhile, Jordan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi condemned Israel for “entering Syrian territory and taking control of the buffer zone,” calling the move a “violation of international law.”
Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs labeled the incursion “a blatant violation of international laws and UN Security Council resolutions, which emphasize the necessity of respecting Syria’s sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and regional safety.”
In its statement, Iraq’s Foreign Ministry called on the international community, especially the Security Council, “to assume its responsibilities in condemning this blatant aggression and taking the necessary measures to put an end to these violations that exploit the current situation in the Syrian Arab Republic.”
The Spokesperson of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baghaei, stated on Monday that the Israeli aggression on Syria represented in repeatedly attacking the country’s infrastructures, and expanding the occupation of the Golan Heights, had worsened over the past two days. The Iranian diplomat, who labelled the aggression as a “blatant violation of the United Nations Charter,” pointed out that it was taking place at a time when the Syrian people were facing the repercussions of the recent ouster of the country’s government.
Since Al-Assad’s ouster on Sunday, Israel has also launched a campaign of airstrikes on Syrian military sites and assets to allegedly keep them out of “the hands of extremists,” referring to the groups who toppled the former Syrian government. On Tuesday, Israel announced that it had destroyed the Syrian naval fleet at Latakia seaport in overnight airstrikes. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz considered the operations a “great success,” as the IOF aims at destroying “strategic capabilities that threaten the state of Israel.”
Israel’s rigorous efforts to destroy Syria’s military capabilities during the country’s transitional phase, as well as its seizure of the Golan Heights, are dangerous indicators that the region is heading towards a new chapter of great turmoil that may engulf many countries in the region alongside Syria.
