Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Friday that he had instructed the country’s armed forces to prepare to stay in their positions.
The EU announced on Friday that it wants to establish dialogue with the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to the displaced Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Islamist organization. However, this does not mean that the EU is about to recognize the new administration.
– We want to create contacts so that we can convey messages about our expectations. The contacts will be at the civil service level, and we hope to be able to establish them soon, said a high-ranking official source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Israeli forces remain on the Golan
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on the other hand, said on Friday that he had instructed the country’s armed forces to prepare to remain in their positions in the buffer zone on the border between Israel and Syria over the winter. According to Katz, Israel’s presence in the strategically important Golan Heights is very important to ensure security.
– Because of the situation in Syria, our presence at the top of Mount Hermon is very important. Everything must be done to ensure the readiness of our military to remain on the ground despite challenging weather conditions, Katz said in a statement.
In violation of international law, Israel has occupied the Syrian Golan Heights since 1967. In 1974, a ceasefire was agreed upon in the area and a demilitarized buffer zone was formed there. 1981 Israel annexed the Golan, but only the United States has recognized the Golan as part of Israel.
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu has described the current presence of troops in the area as temporary. According to Netanyahu, Israel wants to ensure the security of its border in a situation where a power vacuum has formed in Syria.
More than a million fled
In Syria, 1.1 million people have been forced to flee their homes since rebels launched their offensive to oust President al-Assad, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. OCHA. According to the organization, those who had to flee are mostly women and children.
The rebels began their offensive to oust the president just over two weeks ago.
There were already millions of internal refugees in the country before the change of power, for example due to the long civil war. In addition, millions have fled outside the country.