Paris Demands Israel Abandon Buffer Zone with Syria

Photo Credit: TPS-IL

Inside the demilitarized zone between Syria and Israel on Dec. 9, 2024, one day after Syrian rebels toppled the government of former President Bashar al-Assad. 

France is demanding that IDF forces leave the buffer zone between Israel and Syria, where troops are deployed to protect Israel’s border in the aftermath of a jihadist coup d’etat in Damascus.

At present, Syria is in total chaos, and several elements in the Islamist conglomerate led by Hayat Tahrir al-Shams (HTS), formerly Al Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra, are already claiming Jerusalem is next.

Nevertheless, a spokesperson for the French Foreign Ministry told reporters at a briefing Wednesday, “As stated by the UN, any military deployment in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria is a violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement which must be respected by its signatories, Israel and Syria.

“France calls on Israel to withdraw from this area.”

Russia and Saudi Arabia have likewise criticized Israel’s deployment in the buffer zone.

But the United States supported the defensive move, with State Department spokesperson Matt Miller noting in a briefing “the Syrian army abandoned its positions in the area . . . which potentially creates a vacuum that could have been filled by terrorist organizations.”

Miller added, however, “These are not permanent actions . . . We support all sides upholding the 1974 disengagement agreement.”

For the record: There has been no record to date of any jihadist organization upholding any agreement with Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in remarks earlier this week that the above-referenced agreement is dead, given the elimination of a sovereign Syrian government by the jihadists.

“The collapse of the Assad regime, the tyranny in Damascus, offers great opportunity but also is fraught with significant dangers. . . we have to take action against possible threats. One of them is the collapse of the Separation of Forces Agreement from 1974 between Israel and Syria. This agreement held for 50 years. Last night, it collapsed. The Syrian army abandoned its positions.

“We gave the Israeli army the order to take over these positions to ensure that no hostile force embeds itself right next to the border of Israel. This is a temporary defensive position until a suitable arrangement is found,” the prime minister explained.

“If we can establish neighborly relations and peaceful relations with the new forces emerging in Syria, that’s our desire. But if we do not, we will do whatever it takes to defend the State of Israel and the border of Israel.”

On Tuesday, Netanyahu said in an address to the nation that “we all” understand the great importance of an Israeli presence on the Golan Heights, “and not at the base of the Golan Heights.

“Our control on the Golan Heights ensures our security; it ensures our sovereignty,” he said.

“With Defense Minister Israel Katz, and with the backing of all the members of the Security Cabinet, I ordered the IDF to seize the buffer zone between us and Syria, as well as the controlling positions close to it. This includes the summit of Mt. Hermon, what is called the Syrian Mt. Hermon,” he emphasized.

“We have no intention of interfering in Syria’s internal affairs; however, we do intend to do what is necessary for our security . . . We want to have relations with the new regime in Syria but if this regime allows Iran to re-establish itself in Syria, or allows the transfer of Iranian weapons, or weapons of any kind, to Hezbollah, or attacks us – we will respond forcefully and we will exact a heavy price. What happened to the previous regime will also happen to this one.”