Why Israel Syria's highest mountain conquered according to Assad's case
Why Israel Syria's highest mountain conquered according to Assad's case
Israel lost no time immediately after the fall of Bashar al-Assad and began to attack all Syrian military resources to keep them away from the hands of the rebels. According to reports, almost 500 destinations were attacked, the Syrian navy was destroyed and 90 % of the well-known soil-air rockets of Syria were switched off.
strategic importance of Mount Hermon
Among the achievements, Israel's occupation of Mount Hermon, the highest summit of Syria, could be one of the most sustainable, although civil servants emphasize that the cast is temporary.
"This is the highest point in the region, with a view to Lebanon, Syria and Israel," said Efraim Inbar, director of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS). "It is extremely important strategically. There is no substitute for mountains."
control over the summit
The summit of Mount Hermon is located in Syria, in a buffer zone that separated Israeli and Syrian armed forces for five decades until the Israeli troops took control last weekend. The summit was demilitarized until Sunday and was patrolled by UN peace-keepers-their highest permanent position in the world.
Israel's Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, ordered the military preparations for the hard winter conditions on Friday. "In view of the developments in Syria, it is of enormous security -political importance to maintain our control over the summit of Mount Hermon," he said in a statement.
historical classification of the strategic situation
The Israeli defense forces (IDF) have extended control over the summit to Beqaasem, which is about 25 kilometers from the Syrian capital Damascus, reports the Syrian activist group Voice of the Capital. However, a spokesman for the Israeli armed forces rejected this claim and emphasized that the troops did not "move to Damascus".
Israel conquered the Golan heights, a strategic plateau in the southwest of Syria near Mount Hermon, during the 1967 war and has occupied it since then. Syria tried in 1973 to recapture the area in a surprise attack, but failed and Israel annexed the Golanhöhen 1981. According to international law, this occupation is illegal, but the United States recognized the right to Golan during the Trump Administration of Israel.
The geopolitical tensions
Israel has checked some of the lower slopes of Mount Hermon for decades and even operates a ski area, but the summit has so far remained in Syrian territory.
"We do not intend to intervene in Syria's internal matters," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a video, shortly after Israel bombed hundreds of Syrian goals and took the demilitarized buffer zone. "But we intend to do everything necessary to ensure our security."
advantages of control over the summit
The summit of Mount Hermon is a great strategic advantage for Israel. With a height of 2,814 meters, he towered over every point in Syria or Israel and is only exceeded by a summit in Lebanon.
"Some say that in times of rockets the country is not important - that is simply wrong," said Inbar. In an academic article from 2011, he described the numerous advantages that Mount Hermon offers. "It enables the use of electronic monitoring deep in the Syrian area, which gives Israel an early warning capacity in the event of an upcoming attack," he continued. Technological alternatives such as air monitoring are simply not comparable.
The geopolitical tensions in the region
The summit is only 35 kilometers from Damascus, which means that control over the Syrian foothills, who are now also in IDF hands, brings the Syrian capital within reach of artillery shooters.
The Syrian rebel leader Mohammad al-Jolani accused Israel on Saturday, with his actions in Syria "the limits of the argument", while a group of neighboring countries asked Israel to deduct his troops from all Syrian territories.
After a meeting in Aqaba with representatives of Türkiye, Iraq, Egypt and the European Commission, Jordan's deputy Prime Minister Ayman Safadi, Israel, tried to take advantage of a power vacuum in Syria. Safadi warned that the country's stability is a "pillar of security in the region" and that if Israel does not respect Syrian sovereignty, the risk of an "explosion scenario" threatens.
Future politics and strategic direction of Israel
Netanyahu has meanwhile emphasized that his “hand stretched out” is to the new government in Syria. But in the world after October 7, he and other decision -makers in the field of national security made it clear that they will not take any risk. "For us, it is mainly a calming," said the retired Brigadier general Israel Ziv to Israel's operations in Syria. "We learned what happens in other countries when a terrorist organization has military equipment."
Netanyahu also made it clear that the crew was temporary. "Israel will not allow jihadist groups to fill this vacuum and threaten the Israeli municipalities on the Golan heights with attacks in the style of October 7," he emphasized. His criteria for a troop deduction are that a Syrian force must be built up, which is committed to the 1974 Agreement and guarantees security at the border. It remains unclear when this can be achieved.
whether a military withdrawal is made is a political decision, ”said Inbar.“ The military would prefer to stay there. ”
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