Defense Minister Katz says IDF to stay in Syria buffer zone indefinitely

Defense Minister Israel Katz says during a visit to the Syrian side of Mount Hermon today that the IDF will remain there indefinitely.

“The IDF will remain at the summit of the Hermon and the security zone indefinitely to ensure the security of the communities of the Golan Heights and the north, and all the residents of Israel,” Katz says, apparently referring to a buffer zone on the Syrian side of the border that Israel seized following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime last month.

“We will not allow hostile forces to establish themselves in the security zone in southern Syria… we will act against any threat,” he says.

Katz says Israel will make contact with “friendly populations” in the southern Syria area, “with an emphasis on the large Druze community which has historic and close family relations with our Druze brothers in Israel.”

The defense minister visited an army post at the Mount Hermon summit, where he held an assessment with senior officers and spoke with troops, according to his office.

Israel has previously described its takeover of the buffer zone as a temporary measure aimed at preventing hostile forces from taking advantage of the power vacuum in Syria to enter the strategic zone and threaten Israeli territory.