Netanyahu wasted no time. On the day Assad fell, December 8, he ordered his forces to occupy the buffer zone, declaring the 1974 Agreement on Disengagement with Syria null and void. The occupation forces seized the buffer zone and captured strategic peaks of Mount Hermon, which it occupied in 1967 but lost in the 1973 war.
In the days that followed, occupation forces seized more towns in Quneitra Governorate, including Khan Arnabeh and Hadar; expanded to the Syrian-Lebanese border, including parts of Damascus Countryside; and advanced further south, taking areas of the Yarmouk Valley on the Syrian-Jordanian border in Daraa Governorate.
Alongside this expansion, a devastating Israeli bombing campaign targeted dozens of military sites across Syria, destroying all Syrian army equipment that could pose a threat to the occupation forces.
The Israeli occupation benefits from the current situation. There is no Syrian military or political force capable of opposing this aggression, and apart from statements of condemnation, there is no serious international or regional opposition to these actions. Netanyahu also feels emboldened by his complete impunity for the genocide in Gaza, and by Trump’s arrival at the White House.
Netanyahu claims that these actions are “temporary”, but various indicators suggest otherwise. During a Mount Hermon visit, Netanyahu said his forces would stay “until an arrangement securing Israel’s safety is reached.” The occupation forces began implementing changes in newly occupied areas, including soliciting construction bids, erecting watchtowers, building fortifications, and demolishing buildings.
For the moment, new Syrian lands, villages, and towns have joined those already under occupation. The Israeli occupation army now has ground positions overlooking Damascus, which could impact any future conflicts or negotiations.
This new occupation is an attempt to redraw the Syrian map in the occupation’s favor, and improves the occupation’s position in any upcoming confrontations or negotiations with Syria. It also makes recovering occupied Syrian territories an exceedingly difficult task for any new political regime in Syria. Israel could enforce a new state of affairs, restricting future Syria negotiations to territories occupied in 2024, and claiming the Golan Heights as Israeli.
