Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) is keeping a close eye on Syria’s interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohamad al-Julani, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on March 11 while visiting the military’s new post atop the strategic Hermon mountain in southern Syria.
Sharaa’s Islamist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham led the offensive that overthrew the regime of former president Bashar al-Assad last December.
Just hours after the fall of the regime, the IDF invaded the buffer zone adjacent to the occupied Golan Heights and launched hundreds of strikes against Syria’s military capabilities. Since then, the military has established nine posts in the zone, including two atop Mount Hermon. Three brigades, under the 210th Bashan Regional Division, are deployed to the area.
The highest IDF position atop Hermon, close to the peak, overlooks much of southern Syria, including Damascus, in addition to Beqaa Valley, a stronghold of Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.
“Every morning when Julani opens his eyes in the presidential palace in Damascus, he will see the IDF watching him from the heights of Mount Hermon and remember that we are here, and throughout the security zones in southern Syria, to protect the residents of the Golan and Galilee from any threat from him and his jihadist friends,” Katz told a group of journalists who escorted him and deputy military chief Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai on the visit.
“The IDF is preparing to stay in Syria for an unlimited time. We will hold the security zone and Mount Hermon and ensure that the entire security area in southern Syria is demilitarized and free of weapons and threats, and we will also protect the safety of the Druze in the area. Last night we operated powerfully against military targets and attacked more than 40 targets in southern Syria to implement the policy we announced and warned about, and to thwart threats to the State of Israel,” the minister continued.
He added that “We will strengthen the connection with the residents of the area and soon on the 16th of the month, Druze workers will begin working in the Golan Heights settlements.”
The Israeli “security zone” in southern Syria is split into two areas, according to Katz. The first, the buffer zone, is located up to around five kilometers from the Golan front. 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.
The second zone is an area up to 15 kilometers deep into Syria, where the IDF has been carrying out raids and capturing weapons.
In addition, Hebrew media talked about a third zone in southern Syria located up to 80 kilometers from Israel’s border, reaching the outskirts of Damascus and the Druze-majority city of al-Suwayda.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month that southern Syria must be completely demilitarized, warning that Israel would not accept the presence of the forces of the new Syrian Islamists government near its territory. The primer also warned the government against attacking the Druze, vowing to defend the minority.
The Syrian interim government condemned Israel’s moves in the south on more than one occasion. However, it stopped short from taking action.
Israel’s plans are clearly meant to weaken the Syrian government. They also pose a serious threat to the unity of the country. Sharaa’s heavy reliance on Islamists will likely fracture the country even more and push Israel to escalate further in the future.
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it would be nice if israel included alawites and christians in its israel like russia did when it reduced the terrorist nazi state of ukraine. or israel would create one beautiful free state for christians and alawites on the coast of the sea. enter the names jan sobieski, andrej turjaški, nikola zrinski and the armenian genocide into the search engine. then you will understand why the arabs were happy when the french occupied them.
israel thought it was creating a golem to destroy hezbollah, but it created a frankenstein’s monster, and when israel saw what it had done, it repented.
thousands of innocent people die while the idf is watching: such help. they’re there to make sure the depopulation continues as they planned together with the top terrorist in charge. more child blood sacrifice for moloch, as usual.
the israelis want to rescue the remaining 170,000 members of assad’s army to incorporate them into the israeli army. al qaeda deceived them by promising them security and freedom. who can save them? israel. the only thing israel wants and needs is a bunch of people who hate isis, hamas, al qaeda and other terrorist gangs. otherwise, these people will experience the armenian genocide 2.
apparently the “defense minister” has fantasies of jolani dancing around a pole in high heels and a skirt like the thief of kyev. he watching him alright 😆
syria and israel don’t have much oil. the only thing that would be of any value there are catholics and alawites, who could be annexed by israel. assad’s 17 euros wer’t a sufficient salary for them, they might be willing to become part of israel, that they are not killed in their own homes by criminal al qaeda terrorists or they would establish a common state with the catholics. a genocide is actually happening and everyone except israel is looking away.
the fate of alawite civilians
some alawite civilians reportedly fled to mountainous areas, while others sought refuge with trusted sunni acquaintances. nearly 2,000 alawites have taken refuge at russia’s hmeimim air base, and thousands have crossed the border into lebanon. alexander yuryevich, the commander of russia’s bases in syria, warned damascus security forces, “if you attack our bases, you will be reduced to ashes.”
the fate of civilians who did not manage to escape the massacre is unknown. in al-qusour, the alawite neighborhood of banyas, anyone unable to escape was reportedly killed. syrian journalist hala mansour announced on her social media account that her aunt was killed in al-qusour along with her husband and two children.
mansour is a dentist – her husband was a doctor, her older son a pharmacist, and her younger son a 10th-grade student.
the head of the family had reportedly mediated between the opposition and the authorities on numerous occasions. hanadi zahlout, an anti-assad alawite, also announced on social media that her three brothers had been killed. hanadi, who was imprisoned several times by the former syrian government, said in her post, “we were very happy with the overthrow of assad and the victory of our resistance, but the first result was the massacre of our family.”
another alawite opponent of assad, dr abdellatif ali, who served three years in prison, was also killed along with his wife and child. these are just among the first trickle of confirmed horror stories emerging from the scene of the massacre. videos taken by damascus security forces themselves show smoke billowing from alawite neighborhoods and villages as they are looted and burned to the sound of laughter and insults: ordinary families, old and young, slaughtered in their hom
“my sons didn’t resist at all, but i could see them shrink away,” their mother said. “i ran toward them. all i saw was a hand reaching out, grabbing and dragging my younger son into the van” before her older son got in as well. security forces combed the neighborhood but never found the van, she said. as is commonly the case, the kidnappers never contacted her or asked for a ransom. about a week later, their bodies were found by the side of a highway in a neighboring province,
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”keeping a close eye on him’, why, to make certain that he is praying in the direction of tel aviv, three times a day?