After Assad’s fall, Israeli forces moved to the demilitarized zone inside Syria, created after the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. The move was intended to ensure that the leader’s arsenal and military infrastructure fallen cannot be used by extremist groups within Syria’s borders, who now have more capacity to reconstitute and expand due to the country’s new instability.

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“The immediate risks facing the country have not disappeared and the latest developments in Syria increase the strength of the threat – despite the moderate image that rebel leaders claim to present,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, to officials reviewing the nation’s defense budget. to one statement.

Katz’s office added that “because of what is happening in Syria, it is extremely important, in terms of security, to retain the summit”, referring to the summit of Mount Hermon, which overlooks Damascus.

The Israeli military has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on Syria’s strategic weapons stockpile, while the United States has also launched dozens of airstrikes in the country targeting ISIS. Israeli officials say they must ensure that the Assad regime’s weapons stockpiles, which could include chemical weapons, do not fall into the hands of Hayat Tahrir al-Shams, the main group involved in the overthrow of ‘Assad. HTS is still designated by the United States as a terrorist group, although it has since denounced its previous ties to al-Qaeda and its leaders have shared promising statements since Assad’s flight.

While Israeli forces were happy to see Assad fall, due to his alliance with Iranthey doubt that the next leaders will not threaten the country’s national security. HTS has said it is not seeking conflict with Israel, but officials remain concerned about the possibility.

Critics of Israel have argued that the Jewish state has violated Syrian territorial integrity and sovereignty. France, Germany and Spain have called on Israel to withdraw from the demilitarized zone, while the United Nations has said Israel is violating the 1974 disengagement agreement that created the buffer zone.

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Israeli army chief of staff Herzi Halevi disagrees, saying they do not intervene in what is happening in Syria.

On the contrary: “There was an enemy country here. His army collapsed. There is a risk that terrorist elements will come here, and we have moved forward so that extremist terrorist elements will not settle near the border with us.”