Over the weekend, Syrian rebels successfully captured the country's capital, Damascus, prompting neighboring Israel to take action in the buffer zone that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria. Israeli military forces were deployed to the buffer zone, with armored vehicles and troops observed inside the area.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during a visit to the Golan Heights on Sunday, announced that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had been directed to seize control of the buffer zone and its surrounding dominant positions. The decision was made with full support from the cabinet, emphasizing Israel's commitment to preventing any hostile forces from establishing a presence along its border.
The buffer zone, established in 1974, is a demilitarized area within Syria that is under the administration of the Syrian government. United Nations peacekeepers have historically patrolled this zone. Israel gained control of the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and formally annexed the territory in 1981.
