JERUSALEM, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday that the country's military forces will remain in Syria for an "unlimited time."
"The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) will remain at the summit of Mount Hermon and in the buffer zone indefinitely," Katz said during a visit to military posts established by Israel at the Mount Hermon summit. He claimed that the move is aimed "to ensure the security of Israel's citizens."
"I came here to ensure that the IDF is well-prepared in defense and offense for prolonged deployment at the Mount Hermon posts," he said.
Katz said Israel is determined to prevent Iran-linked forces and other groups not allied with Israel from gaining a foothold in southern Syria.
"We will not allow hostile forces to establish themselves in the buffer zone in southern Syria -- from here to the Suwayda-Damascus axis -- and we will not rely on others for our defense," he said. "We will maintain ties with friendly populations in the area, with an emphasis on the large Druze community."
At 2,814 meters, Mount Hermon's summit is the highest point on the eastern Mediterranean coast, overlooking Israel, Syria, and Lebanon.
Israel had already occupied a lower part of the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war. It later annexed it, in a move not recognized by most of the international community.
In December, in the wake of the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government, Israel sent ground forces into the buffer zone, a demilitarized area monitored by the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, which was established by the 1974 Agreement on Disengagement between Israel and Syria. Later, Israel also seized Syrian army posts at the mountain's peak.
Israel has bombed around 500 Syrian sites with military assets, including navy facilities and surface-to-air missile systems, claiming the strikes were aimed at preventing weapons from falling into the hands of rebel groups. ■
