Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the Israel Defense Forces, IDF, have seized control of the demilitarised buffer zone in the Golan Heights.

The move follows the collapse of the 1974 disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria after rebel forces took over Damascus and ousted President Bashar al-Assad.

Netanyahu stated that the IDF had entered the buffer zone and surrounding commanding positions, declaring the action necessary to prevent hostile forces from gaining a foothold near Israel’s borders.

“We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border,” he said.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Syrian government troops abandoned positions in Quneitra province, part of which lies within the buffer zone, on Saturday.

The following day, the IDF instructed residents of five Syrian villages inside the zone to remain indoors until further notice.

The Golan Heights, a strategically significant plateau about 60 km southwest of Damascus, has been under Israeli control since the Six-Day War in 1967. Israel unilaterally annexed the area in 1981, a move widely unrecognised except by the United States in 2019.

The buffer zone seizure follows the dramatic fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Rebel forces led by the Islamist coalition Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, HTS, captured Damascus early Sunday, declaring Syria “free” on state television.

Assad, who ruled Syria for 13 years after succeeding his father, has reportedly fled to an undisclosed location.

Netanyahu called the fall of the Assad regime a “historic day” but warned of potential dangers.

“The collapse of tyranny in Damascus offers great opportunity but is fraught with significant risks,” he said. He credited Israeli strikes against Iran and Hezbollah as contributing to the regime’s downfall.

Netanyahu described the IDF’s occupation of Syrian positions in the buffer zone as a temporary measure until a suitable arrangement is reached. He expressed hope for peaceful relations with the new Syrian leadership but affirmed Israel’s readiness to act defensively if necessary.

“If we can establish neighbourly relations and peaceful relations with the new forces emerging in Syria, that’s our desire. But if we do not, we will do whatever it takes to defend the State of Israel and the border of Israel,” Netanyahu said.

Israel remains cautious about Syria’s future, particularly concerning the potential proliferation of Assad’s alleged chemical weapons arsenal.

The leader of the Syrian rebellion, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, has familial roots in the Golan Heights, where thousands of Israeli settlers and Druze Syrians currently reside.

Israel seizes Golan heights buffer zone amid Syrian power shift