Israel wasted no time after the fall of Bashar al-Assad to bomb all Syrian military assets it needed to keep them out of rebel hands – striking 500, destroying the navy, and, it says, 90% of Syria’s known territory. -to-air missile.
But it is Israel’s capture of Syria’s highest peak, Mount Hermon, that may prove to be among the most lasting gains – although officials have insisted that their occupation is temporary.
“This is the highest point in the region, looking at Lebanon, Syria, Israel,” said Efraim Inbar, director of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS). “It’s very important. There’s no substitute for mountains.”
Israeli armored vehicles in the demilitarized zone in the Golan Heights. – Mathias Delacroix/AP
The top of Mount Hermon is in Syria, in the closed area that separated the Israeli and Syrian forces for 50 years until last weekend, when the Israeli army captured it. Until Sunday, the meeting was demilitarized and surrounded by UN peacekeepers – their highest post in the world.
Israel’s Defense Minister, Israel Katz, on Friday ordered the army to prepare for the harsh conditions of the winter deployment. “Due to what is happening in Syria, it is extremely important to maintain our control over Mount Hermon,” he said in a statement.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has advanced beyond the meeting, to Beqaasem, about 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) from the capital of Syria, according to the Voice of the Capital, a group of Syrian fighters. CNN couldn’t be more independent. An Israeli army spokesman this week denied that troops were “going” to Damascus.
Israeli gun on Mount Hermon in 1974. – Alain Dejean/Sygma/Getty Images
Israel captured the Golan Heights, a strategic area in southwestern Syria that underlies Mount Hermon, in the 1967 war and has occupied it ever since. Syria tried to retake the territory in a surprise attack in 1973, but failed, and Israel took it in 1981. The occupation is illegal under international law, but the United States recognized Israel’s claim on the Golan during the Trump administration.
Israel has for decades held the slopes of Mount Hermon, and even uses a ski resort there, but the peak has remained in Syria.
“We have no intention of interfering in Syria’s internal affairs,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video days after Israel bombed hundreds of Syrian targets by occupying a demilitarized zone. “But we intend to do whatever is necessary to protect our safety.”
The top of Mount Hermon is the main thing that Israel controls. At 9,232 meters (2,814 meters), it is higher than any point in Syria or Israel, and second only to the highest point in Lebanon.
“People sometimes say that in the age of weapons, land is not important – that’s a lie,” Inbar said.
In an academic paper published in 2011, he wrote about the many benefits that Mount Hermon brought.
“It enables the use of deep electronic surveillance in Syrian territory, giving Israel an early-warning advantage if an attack is coming,” he wrote. Advanced technologies such as aerial surveillance, he argued, were not comparable. “Unlike being mounted on a mountain, these cannot carry heavy equipment such as large antennas, and can be shot down by air-launched missiles.”
Israeli forces on Mount Hermon on Sunday. – Social Media
The peak is just over 35 kilometers (about 22 miles) from Damascus, which means that control of its Syrian hills – also in the hands of the IDF – puts the Syrian capital within range of artillery fire.
The Israeli president said his “hand is extended” to the new government in Syria. But in the post-October 7 world, he and other security heavyweights have made it clear that they are not going to take any chances.
“In general, it’s a consolation for us,” Brigadier General Israel Ziv said of Israel’s actions in Syria. “We have learned what has happened in other countries when you have a terrorist organization that takes weapons of war.”
Netanyahu also insisted that the job is temporary. “Israel will not allow jihadist groups to fill this area and threaten Israeli communities on the Golan Heights with the October 7 attack,” he said. His approach to withdrawal, he said, is that the Syrian army “committed to the 1974 agreement can be strengthened and security on our border can be guaranteed.”
It is not clear when that might be available.
Whether the military withdraws is “a political decision,” Inbar said. “The military would love to stay there.”
Mike Schwartz and Tim Lister contributed to this report.
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