IDF troops are to stay for an unlimited time on territories seized in December, Defense Minister Israel Katz has said

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are preparing for an indefinite stay in southern Syria, Defense Minister Israel Katz has said during a visit to the Mount Hermon, which is across the Israeli border in the area. The nation's military expanded its presence on Syrian soil back in December, following the ousting of former president, Bashar Assad.

West Jerusalem is seeking to establish a so-called security zone on the occupied Syrian territories and in the adjacent areas to supposedly combat threats to its national security and effectively keep any other military forces out of the area, Katz said on Wednesday.

"The IDF is prepared to stay in Syria for an unlimited amount of time. We will hold the security area in Hermon and make sure that all the security zone in southern Syria is demilitarized and clear of weapons and threats," the defense minister stated.

According to the Times of Israel, the IDF has established nine military bases on territories they had occupied since December, including two on Mount Hermon.

The Israeli military reportedly regards a 15 kilometer-deep zone from the Golan Heights, which it already illegally occupies, into southern Syria as a legitimate area of operations.

The IDF "attacked more than 40 targets in southern Syria to implement the policy we announced" on Wednesday night, Katz claimed.

He added that the military presence is aimed at deterring threats to Israel by Syria's transitional authorities and various militant groups affiliated with them.

In December, power in Syria was seized by a broad coalition of armed groups led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa.

The IDF moved into the buffer zone between the Golan Heights and Syria as well as further into the Syrian territory in late 2024, against the background of the power shift in Damascus.

West Jerusalem then branded Syria's new authorities "polite jihadists" and said it viewed them as a threat.

Syria's transitional government has since repeatedly demanded the Israeli withdrawal from the area and urged UN forces be deployed instead.

Israel first gained control of the Syrian Golan Heights in 1967 after defeating Syria and Egypt in the Six-Day War. Damascus failed to retake the strategic region in 1973. In 1981, West Jerusalem annexed the territory in a move that was never internationally recognized.

(RT.com)