Atop Mt. Hermon, Katz says Syrian leader will see indefinite IDF deployment
ToI tours IDF’s highest army post in Syria, overlooking Damascus and Hezbollah’s Beqaa Valley stronghold in Lebanon; Syrian Druze to enter Israel for work starting next week
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
MOUNT HERMON, Syria — After an hour-long flight from the relative warmth of central Israel, freezing air rushed into an Israeli Air Force helicopter as Defense Minister Israel Katz, deputy military chief Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai and a group of journalists landed on Tuesday morning at one of Mount Hermon’s snowy summits on the Syrian side of the border.
Due to the harsh weather conditions and difficult terrain, the Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion — known in Israel as the Yasur — helicopter that took us to Syria from an IAF airbase could not land at the strategic peak of Mount Hermon, located 2,814 meters (9,232 foot) above sea level, and 14.5 kilometers (9 miles) from Israel’s border.
To reach the peak, where the Israeli military has established a post at the site of a former Syrian army position, we needed to travel another hour in cramped snowcats with almost no room to move in.
The fully treaded snowcats made light work of the icy mud and thick snow covering the route to the top of Mount Hermon.
Along the way, an Israeli military truck used to transport ammunition was seen embedded in ice. It had broken down during a snowstorm. Army officials said that they would wait until the summer to extract it, once the ice had melted, indicating that Israel intends to stay inside Syria for the foreseeable future.
Once the reporters arrived at the Israeli army post and a nearby lookout position, it was clear why the military captured the area back in December.
The Israel Defense Forces took the Syrian side of the strategic Mount Hermon, along with a buffer zone that has existed between the countries since the 1970s, following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
Since then, the IDF has established nine military posts inside Syrian territory, including two atop Mount Hermon. Three IDF brigades, under the 210th Bashan Regional Division, are deployed to the area.
The highest IDF position, close to the peak of Mount Hermon, was constructed using a building belonging to the former regime in Syria. The military hooked it up with generators for electricity and fixed it up to make it habitable for troops, who are expected to stay there for the foreseeable future.
The post has a clear view of Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, a Hezbollah stronghold on the border with Syria, through which the terror group smuggles arms. Though smuggling attempts have slowed down in recent weeks due to the snow, they are expected to resume in the summer, IDF officials said.
Syria’s capital, Damascus, less than 40 kilometers (24 miles) can also be seen from the IDF post on a clear day.
Katz and military officials said that the IDF’s deployment to the post and the other eight in the area was geared to ensure that the troops could better defend Israeli border communities in the Golan Heights.
“Every morning when [Syrian leader] al-Jolani (Ahmed al-Sharaa) opens his eyes at the presidential palace in Damascus, he will see the IDF watching him from the peak of the Hermon, and remember 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,” Katz said.
“The IDF 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 demilitarized and clear of weapons and threats,” he said.
The “security zone,” according to Katz, is split into two areas in southern Syria.
The first, the buffer zone, is located up to around five kilometers from Israel’s border. Within the buffer zone and areas adjacent to it, there are some 40,000 Syrian residents, many of them Druze. It is within this area that the IDF established its nine posts.
Katz vowed that Israel “will protect the Druze” in southern Syria, and, starting from March 16, allow the first Syrian Druze to enter Israel for work in the Golan Heights. The plan is being led by Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian, who heads the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories and is Druze himself.
Katz also said that Israel was “tightening its relationship with the locals.” The IDF in recent weeks has assisted civilians in repairing broken water and electricity lines, and in a handful of cases also provided medical attention.
The second zone is an area up to 15 kilometers deep into Syria, where the IDF has carried out dozens of raids, capturing weapons Israel seeks to prevent from falling into the hands of hostile forces.
There is also a third zone in southern Syria described by defense officials as “an area of influence.” It is located up to 80 kilometers from Israel’s border, reaching the outskirts of Damascus and the Druze-majority city of Suwayda.
Israeli officials have said that they seek to completely demilitarize the southern Syria area, and not allow any armed groups to enter it and gain a foothold, including those of the new Syrian government.
Syrian government control is relatively weak in the region, and Israel has threatened to target interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa’s forces if they deploy there.
Another major threat seen by Israel in Syria is the Palestinian terror groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Many members of the groups were locked up in Assad’s prisons, and with their release in December, the defense establishment fears they could carry out attacks on Israel from Syria.
Therefore, dozens of Israeli airstrikes have been carried out in recent weeks, including a large wave late Monday, targeting military sites and equipment belonging to the former regime, to prevent the weapons from reaching hostile forces. Some of the recent strikes have destroyed tanks and artillery systems left behind by the Assad regime.
“Last night we acted forcefully against military targets. We attacked over 40 targets in southern Syria to implement the policy we announced and warned about — to thwart any threat to the State of Israel,” Katz added.
Back aboard the snowcats, reporters, the defense minister, and the deputy IDF chief of staff were taken back to the makeshift helipad located lower down on the mountain. An hour later, we landed back at the airbase.
My passport was not stamped.
