The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday morning launched a military exercise in the Mount Hermon and Mount Dov regions along Israel’s border with Syria and Lebanon.
“As part of the exercise, there will be active and noticeable movement of security forces and vehicles in the area, and explosions will be heard,” the military stated.
The IDF emphasized that there was “no concern” regarding a “security incident.”
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa over the weekend accused Israel of “exporting crises” across the Middle East in an effort to divert attention from what he called “horrifying massacres” in its war against Hamas in Gaza.
Speaking at the Doha Forum in the Qatari capital on Saturday, the former al-Qaeda terrorist reiterated his call for the Israeli military to withdraw from the security zone in southern Syria.
After the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, the IDF seized control of parts of southern Syria, expanding a buffer zone and maintaining a presence amid ongoing clashes and strikes.
Jerusalem remains ready to negotiate a new security agreement with the Syrian regime but will “stand by its principles” to prevent a repeat of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week.
“After Oct. 7, we are determined to defend our communities along our borders, including the northern border,” the premier said.
Israel’s policies are aimed at “preventing the entrenchment of terrorists and hostile activities against us, protecting Druze allies and ensuring that the State of Israel is safe from ground or other attacks,” he added.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee last month that the Jewish state is not expected to make peace with Damascus, as hostile forces, among them the Iranian-backed Houthis, were planning attacks on the Golan Heights.
