Syria demands Israeli withdrawal from Golan

Syria’s newly installed government demanded that Israel withdraw its presence in Golan Heights, a region it occupies for decades, in a move following its ally Bashar al-Assad’s fall. The demand during negotiations with Jean-Pierre Lacroix, head of U.N.’s peacekeeping, according to Syrian state media reports.

The country’s willingness to cooperate with U.N. in full, according to its representatives, during Lacroix’s negotiations with its ministries of foreign affairs and defense, was reiterated during its negotiations with Lacroix. According to SANA, a state-owned television channel, Syria is ready to withdraw its soldiers to Golan Heights in compliance with a 1974 agreement creating a buffer zone, but only in case Israeli soldiers withdraw at a single move.

The Israeli soldiers invaded the demilitarized buffer zone on December 8, when its ally Bashar al-Assad was overthrown, and took over its administration in a move seen in a similar form in 1981 when it annexed Golan Heights, a region it captured in 1967 during an Arab-Israeli war with its ally, Syria. According to terms in a 1974 disengagement agreement, a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone between Israeli and Syrian soldiers was drawn to divide them.

Prior to even moving towards Damascus, loyalists of its administration long fled southern parts of Syria, a move that prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refer to it as a “vacuum at Israel’s doorstep.”

The U.N. regards Israeli’s presence in the buffer zone a break in compliance with a 1974 disengagement agreement, and Lacroix’s tour included a sitdown with U.N.’s representatives in its Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), responsible for checking compliance with an agreement.

In December, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the army to make preparations for a prolonged presence in the security zone during winter. On Tuesday, he reiterated that Israeli forces will maintain a presence at sensitive locations, such as Mount Hermon and security zone, for a prolonged duration in a move to secure communities in the Golan Heights, in northern Israel, and in general in the region.

Mount Hermon, shared between Syria and Lebanon, overlooks the Golan Heights and is a location of high strategic value. Katz reiterated that no hostile powers will maintain a presence in southern Syria’s security zone.