Israel has said its troops will remain in southern Syria, weeks after the regime of Bashar Assad collapsed.
Defense Minister Israel Katz made the announcement while standing on the snow-covered Mount Hermon, situated on the Golan Heights, on Tuesday during a visit to soldiers currently stationed in Syrian territory.
“The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will remain … in the security zone … for an unlimited time period,” Katz said in a video statement released by the Defense Ministry. “We will not allow hostile forces to establish themselves in the security zone in southern Syria … and we will not be dependent on others for our defense.”
“We will not return to the reality of October 7 and will not be dependent on others for our defense—here and anywhere else,” Katz added.
The collapse of the Assad regime and the rise to power of Ahmad al-Sharaa—formerly known as Mohammad al-Julani and now the interim president of Syria’s new government—led to swift Israeli action. The IDF entered the Syrian side of the Golan Heights and established a presence there.
Uncertainty grows
“Israel is uncertain about al-Sharaa’s real intentions. While we have seen a relatively moderate and quiet transitional period, it is unclear whether al-Sharaa’s jihadist, Islamist identity will eventually override his pragmatism,” said Dr. Carmit Valensi, head of the Syria Research Program at the Institute for National Security Studies, in an interview with The Media Line. “Israel, still very much in the state of mind of October 7, is unwilling to accept uncertainty and allow threats to develop beneath its nose.”
Al-Sharaa leads Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), or the Organization for Liberating Syria. Videos on social media that surfaced immediately after his rise to power showed HTS members vowing to help Palestinians in Gaza take action against Israel and liberate Jerusalem from Israeli control.
“Israel’s message has been intentionally vague—aimed at both Israeli and Syrian ears,” Dr. Udi Balanga of the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at Bar-Ilan University told The Media Line. “The message is for Israelis living in the north and for the Syrians: the burden of proof is now on Syria to demonstrate its ability to control the territory so that Israel does not have to deal with various militias on its border.”
Developments in Syria have come after more than a year of war in Israel, during which the Jewish state found itself fending off enemies on multiple fronts. The war began with a surprise offensive by Hamas, the Gaza-based terrorist group, and quickly escalated into a regional conflict as other terrorist organizations joined the attack on Israel. Fighting was especially intense between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed group based in Lebanon. For decades, Syria served as a crucial pathway for Iran in its effort to arm and train Hezbollah. During the war, Shiite militias based in Syria also fired rockets at Israel.
Israel took advantage of the instability in Syria and carried out a short but intense military operation. Its air force conducted hundreds of airstrikes targeting weapons stockpiles, Syrian air-defense systems, the Syrian navy, and other military bases. The Israeli Air Force also targeted the Janta crossing between Syria and Lebanon, believed to be a major supply route for Hezbollah.
Israeli soldiers deployed in the buffer zone between the two countries have remained there since.
According to Valensi, however, Israel will not stay in the area indefinitely, despite official statements.
“Israel will wait until it understands who it is facing in Syria and until another force replaces the Syrian army in the area,” she said. “But Israel is deliberately vague about how long this period will last. The longer it continues, the greater the risk of friction between the army, the local population, and HTS.”
Israel has faced criticism from the international community for its presence in Syria. There have been reports of Israeli troops opening fire on residents and farmers.
The demilitarized zone between Israel and Syria was established as part of a 1974 ceasefire agreement. It includes the highest peak of Mount Hermon, the tallest point on the eastern Mediterranean coast, which serves as a strategic vantage point overlooking both Syria and Lebanon.
Israel captured part of the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Middle East war. In 1981, it annexed the territory, a move deemed illegal by most of the international community, which continues to consider the land Syrian. In 2019, during the first term of US President Donald Trump, the United States departed from decades of policy and recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the area. The remainder of the Golan Heights remains under Syrian control, with UN forces patrolling the buffer zone since the 1974 agreement.
Days after Assad’s fall, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Israel would retain control over the entire Golan Heights permanently.
Al-Sharaa, a former member of al-Qaida, was declared Syria’s interim president on Thursday. Some of his allies are less pragmatic than he is, and he has faced criticism for his perceived acquiescence to Israel’s presence in Syria.
“There is growing criticism and a lack of understanding regarding Israel’s presence in Syria, although for the most part, it has been contained,” Valensi said. “Israel’s actions are seen as highly aggressive, and some of al-Sharaa’s allies interpret them as a sign of his weakness. Israel needs to take this into account.”
At the same time, Syria is currently preoccupied with its internal struggle for stability. Al-Sharaa must balance his loyalists, other radical Islamist factions, minority groups such as the Druze community, and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. While some factions may be willing to act against Israel, now is not the time.
“Al-Sharaa doesn’t see the point in opening a front against Israel after the fall of the Assad regime,” said Balanga. “There is neither interest nor capability for such a move at this time.”
Syria has long been a complicated battlefield. For over a decade, it has been a proxy arena for Russia, Iran, Turkey, and the US, each seeking political and military influence. Israel has had to tread carefully to secure its own interests. Russia and Iran backed the Assad regime, while Turkey funded and trained the militias that ultimately toppled it. Although Turkey and Israel maintain diplomatic relations, their mutual hostility offers little comfort to Israel regarding developments on its Syrian border.
“It might be positive for Israel that Iran has been ousted from Syria, but Turkey is no friend of Israel, and there’s no telling when its proxies could turn against Israel,” Balanga said. “Also, Iran thrives on exploiting chaotic situations. Syria, a patchwork of various groups—some of which are extremely radical—could easily descend into further chaos.”
The Israeli government, emboldened by a pro-Israel administration in Washington, may feel confident enough to declare an indefinite presence in Syria. However, with the trauma of Hamas’s surprise attack on its southern border still fresh, Israel is determined to prevent any future security surprises.
“Syria is an enigma—a step into the unknown,” said Balanga. “Israel must figure out how to handle the situation because, at the moment, there is no real sovereign authority there.”
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