Israel military ‘closely monitoring’ Syria as rebels advance towards border
As the Israeli army reinforced security along the Syrian border, Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi said on Saturday night that the Israel Defence Forces was prepared for any scenario.
Israeli forces reinforcing security along the border with Syria in a photo released on Dec. 6, 2024.. Photo by IDF Spokesperson/TPS-IL
“We are monitoring to see that the local elements are not turning in our direction. We are monitoring very closely what is happening,” Halevi said.
He stressed that Israel had no intention of intervening in Syria’s civil war, but was also keeping its eye on Iranian personnel evacuating the country.
“The main emphasis is to also see the Iranian exit, the Iranian interest, which from our perspective is the first necessity, and the second thing is to see the local elements here who are occupying the territory. There is an offensive response and behind it a very, very strong defensive response,” he said.
Earlier in the evening, the military confirmed Israeli forces are helping United Nations peacekeepers on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights fend off an attack by rebels.
“A short while ago, an attack was carried out by armed individuals at a UN post in the Khader area in Syria,” the IDF said. “The IDF is currently assisting the UN forces in repelling the attack.”
The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) is a peacekeeping mission tasked with maintaining the ceasefire between Israel and Syria in the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The 1,200 monitors come from 13 countries.
The army continued reinforcing security along the border as rebels swept through Syria’s southern Daraa province.
The fallout from Israel’s war with Hamas and Hezbollah has triggered a domino effect threatening Syrian President Bashar Assad’s grip on power and Iran’s regional influence.
Hezbollah has been badly weakened by its war with Israel and is unable to assist Assad’s forces in the face of an offensive by the Al Qaida-linked Tahrir al-Sham.
