Israeli Prime Minister (PM) Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel has “absolute control” over a swathe of territory in southern Syria, as he visited Israeli troops near Mount Hermon and pledged to prevent what he called a “terror army” from establishing itself along Israel’s borders.
In a video released by his office on Wednesday, Netanyahu said Israel controlled the area from the summit of Mount Hermon to the Yarmouk River and westwards to the Mediterranean Sea.
“We control the entire area from the summit of Mount Hermon to the Yarmouk, and from here to the Mediterranean Sea — absolute control unlike anything we have had before,” Netanyahu claimed.
Netanyahu was accompanied by Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz and Deputy Chief of Staff Tamir Yadai during the visit.
“We will not allow any terrorist army to establish itself on our borders,” Netanyahu stated, describing Israel’s illegal control of the area as “one of the great achievements we have achieved”.
He also said there was still work to be done, identifying Iran as Israel’s main target.
“The main task is to defeat the regime in Iran. We are very close to it,” Netanyahu, battling a highly contested upcoming election, stated.
“We know that the entire axis will ultimately fall. We are committed to doing this, and we will do it.”
Israeli troops illegally moved into a United Nations (UN) monitored buffer zone and other areas of southern Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024.
They have remained there since, while Syria has repeatedly called for their withdrawal.
A United Nations commission said this week that Israel’s increasingly entrenched military presence in southern Syria amounted to a “belligerent occupation”, a term referring to military control of territory by a foreign power.
The commission also said some Israeli actions there may constitute war crimes.
