Netanyahu: Israeli Forces Seized Buffer Zone in Golan Heights Amid Syrian Unrest

Damascus: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israeli forces have seized a buffer zone in the Golan Heights established by a 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria.

He spoke on Sunday after a lightning rebel advance ended Syrian President Bashar Assad's rule.

Netanyahu said the decades-old agreement had collapsed and that Syrian troops had abandoned their positions, necessitating the Israeli takeover.

At the Israeli-Syrian border, Benjamin Netanyahu shared a video on X which said ‘this is a historic day in the history of the Middle East. We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border.’

“This is a historic day for the Middle East. The collapse of the Assad regime, the tyranny in Damascus, offers great opportunity but also is fraught with significant dangers”, Netanyahu said.

"We send a hand of peace to all those beyond our border in Syria: to the Druze, to the Kurds, to the Christians, and to the Muslims who want to live in peace with Israel", he added.

Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it. The international community, except for the United States, views it as occupied Syrian territory.