JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel will remain on the strategic Mount Hermon site on the Syrian border until another arrangement is found, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Israeli troops occupied Mount Hermon when they moved into a demilitarized zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights following the collapse of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government this month.
Officials have described the move as a limited and temporary measure to ensure the security of Israel’s borders but have given no indication of when the troops might be withdrawn and Defence Minister Israel Katz last week ordered troops to prepare to remain on Mount Hermon over the winter.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu went to the site for an operational briefing with military commanders and security officials.
“We are holding this assessment in order to decide on the deployment of the IDF in this important place until another arrangement is found that ensures Israel’s security,” he said in a statement issued by his office late on Tuesday, referring to the Israel Defence Forces.
Israel’s move into the buffer zone created following the 1973 Arab-Israeli war has been criticized as a violation of international agreements by a number of countries and the United Nations, which have called for the troops to be withdrawn.
(Reporting by James Mackenzie; Editing by Howard Goller)
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