Israel Warns Rebel Leader it Won’t Accept Jihadist Groups in Southern Syria

Photo Credit: Jamal Awad/Flash90.

Israeli soldiers operating on the Syrian side of the border fence, Dec. 15, 2024.

Jerusalem has warned Syria’s de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa that it will not tolerate jihadist groups establishing a foothold in southern Syria, Hebrew media reported overnight Sunday.

In the message, Israel stressed that it is prepared to keep troops positioned in the demilitarized Golan Heights buffer zone as long as is necessary to maintain border security, according to Ynet.

However, Jerusalem indicated that it might consider transferring control of the buffer zone to a stable and accountable Syrian government should such an authority emerge.

The leader of Syria’s Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which spearheaded the toppling of the Assad regime on Dec. 8, said on Dec. 16 that the rebel alliance in Damascus would continue to uphold the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement that ended the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

According to The New York Times account of an interview given in Arabic to a group of journalists, al-Sharaa also called on the international community to ensure that Jerusalem follows the agreement, criticizing the Israel Defense Forces’ deployment to the buffer zone and other areas of Syrian territory.

He said it was no longer necessary for Israeli forces to be in the Syrian Golan Heights to protect the border zone, because the collapse of the Assad regime had removed the threat from Hezbollah and other Iranian terror proxies.

Since the fall of the Assad regime, Israeli troops have taken up positions inside and beyond the buffer zone, including the strategic Syrian side of Mount Hermon. The Israeli Air Force has also conducted hundreds of strikes on Assad military assets.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz and other senior security officials reviewed Israeli troop deployments on the Syrian border on Dec. 17.

During the visit to Mount Hermon, Netanyahu “reviewed the IDF deployment in the area and set guidelines for the future,” according to the PMO statement.

“We are holding this assessment in order to decide on the deployment of the IDF in this important place until another arrangement is found that ensures Israel’s security,” the prime minister stated.

“This is nostalgic for me. I was here 53 years ago with my soldiers in the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit [Sayeret Matkal]. The place has not changed,” the Israeli prime minister added. “It is the same place, but its importance for Israel’s security has only been underscored in recent years; especially in recent weeks with the dramatic events that took place below us in Syria.”

“We will determine the best arrangement that will ensure our security,” the premier concluded.

“The peak of Mt. Hermon serves the eyes of the State of Israel to detect near and far threats,” said Katz according to a Defense Ministry readout.

“The IDF is here to protect the communities of the Golan Heights and the citizens of the State of Israel from any threat, from the most important place to do so,” continued the defense minister.

“Our presence here at the peak of the Hermon strengthens security and adds a dimension of both observation and deterrence to Hezbollah’s strongholds in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon and deterrence against the rebels in Damascus, who pretend to present a moderate image but belong to the most extreme Islamist sects,” he concluded.