Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday told troops in southern Syria that the Israeli military would not leave its buffer zone there as long as “jihadist threats” remain, issuing a belligerent message to Damascus as the US tries to secure a security deal between the countries.

“We will not move from Mount Hermon and the security zone as long as there are jihadist threats to the State of Israel,” he said.

“The message to the president of Syria is clear — when you wake up in the morning in the palace in Damascus and look up at Mount Hermon and see the IDF, you know that we are here to defend our communities and our border.”

Katz added that Israel “acted against a Turkish attempt to establish itself in Syria, while putting Israel’s security interests at risk,” referring to last week’s strikes on the Abu al-Duhur airbase in Idlib.

“We made this clear and will stand by it in the future as well,” he added.

The Syrian foreign ministry condemned Katz’s visit as illegal, and said his crossing of the international border was “a flagrant violation” of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The Israel Defense Forces has been deployed to nine posts inside southern Syria since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, mostly within a United Nations-patrolled buffer zone on the border between the countries.

Israeli troops have been operating in areas up to around 15 kilometers (9 miles) deep into Syria, aiming to capture weapons that Israel says could pose a threat to the country if they fall into the hands of “hostile forces.”

The two countries, which have no formal relations and are officially in a state of war, held........

© The Times of Israel