Soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces’ 55th Brigade have completed three months of activity in southern Syria, during which they conducted dozens of operations that contributed to enhancing the security of civilians of the Golan Heights, the military announced on Sunday.
Since the beginning of the war, the troops have completed over 100 days of operational activity across Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.
In the coming days, the soldiers will be replaced by another reserve brigade, which will continue carrying out mission in southern Syria and the Golan Heights.
Earlier this month, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said during a visit to the north that Israeli forces should remain in Syria as a buffer between “jihadist enemies and the residents of the Galilee and the Golan.”
“Our role is to defend the citizens of Israel against every threat—and that is what we will do,” Katz declared.
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.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this month that while Jerusalem remains ready to negotiate a new security agreement with the Syrian regime, it will “stand by its principles” to prevent a repeat of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.
“After Oct. 7, we are determined to defend our communities along our borders, including the northern border,” the prime minister declared.
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.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former Al Qaeda terrorist who also goes by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, has demanded a full return to the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement that ended the 1973 Yom Kippur War and an Israeli withdrawal from his territory.
Accordingly, Katz told lawmakers last month that the Jewish state is not expected to make peace with Damascus, as hostile forces, among them Iranian-backed Houthis, were planning attacks on the Golan Heights.
Amichai Chikli, Israel’s minister for diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, tweeted this month that a new war with Damascus was “inevitable,” responding to anti-Israel chants at a Syrian Army parade.
In the footage, Syrian soldiers could be heard chanting, “Gaza, Gaza our rallying cry, victory and steadfastness, night and day. We rise against you, enemy, we rise, from mountains of fire we make our way. From my blood I forge my ammunition, from your blood, rivers will flow.”
