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nmmi

(203 posts)
Sun Dec 8, 2024, 10:37 AM Dec 8

Watching with trepidation and glee, Netanyahu orders military to seize Syria buffer zone

Source: CNN by way of MSN

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria was a "direct result" of Israel's military campaign against Iran and its proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah.

. . .

But in a sign of the potential danger Israel feels from unknown rulers in Damascus, Netanyahu said that he had ordered the military to seize the buffer zone that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from the rest of Syria.

"Together with the Defense Minister, and with full backing from the Cabinet, I directed the IDF yesterday to take control of the buffer zone and the dominant positions near it," he said while visiting the Golan Heights. "We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border."

It is the first time Israeli troops would be stationed in the buffer zone since a 1974 agreement establishing the line of control between Israel and Syria, though they have in the past entered the no-man's land for brief periods. Since 1974, the buffer zone has been patrolled by United Nations peacekeepers. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and annexed it in 1981.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/watching-with-trepidation-and-glee-netanyahu-orders-military-to-seize-syria-buffer-zone/ar-AA1vtLBg



I mostly posted this because of the nice map, so if you see the headlines, you'll know what they are talking about. The buffer zone is the thin gray-white striped strip that contains Quneitra as one of its cities.



"Together with the Defense Minister, and with full backing from the Cabinet, I directed the IDF yesterday to take control of the buffer zone and the dominant positions near it"


I don't know what the "dominant positions near it" is. Edited to add - specifically how much additional territory and where on a map. And does Bibi have a more expansive idea of what that phrase means than the average person might.
14 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Abnredleg

(1,002 posts)
1. Dominant positions usually refers to mountains and ridges
Sun Dec 8, 2024, 10:42 AM
Dec 8

And other high ground that allows you to dominate the surrounding area.

SWBTATTReg

(24,332 posts)
3. I don't think this bodes well, seizing a portion of another country's territory, just to enhance security
Sun Dec 8, 2024, 10:50 AM
Dec 8

according to the IDF, Netanyahu, and others.

Are the Israeli expecting the US to back them every time they do something like this, taking a portion of a country's territory, especially during a trying time for the Syrian government...this is bound to inflame tensions, wouldn't we not want to increase tensions but instead, diminish them?

FBaggins

(27,802 posts)
12. They don't really have much choice
Sun Dec 8, 2024, 06:09 PM
Dec 8

They're focused on consolidating power - and that will take far longer than Israel's move.

uncledad

(66 posts)
11. seizing a portion of another country's territory, just to enhance security
Sun Dec 8, 2024, 05:56 PM
Dec 8

Why not that's why Russia invaded Ukraine!

angrychair

(9,889 posts)
6. Seizing land is not a good sign
Sun Dec 8, 2024, 11:57 AM
Dec 8

Their first act against their new neighbors is to invade them?

How is what they are doing different than Russia invading Ukraine? This "ends justify the means" attitude is becoming reckless and antagonistic.

Israel can just invade anyone they want and the US should support them?

ananda

(30,933 posts)
7. Wow, this is turning out to be a very interesting turn of events.
Sun Dec 8, 2024, 12:07 PM
Dec 8

It seems to have an effect on the whole world order,
and is very harmful to Russia and Iran.

What will happen next will mean a lot for different
countries and the stability of the region.

Just wow.

OnlinePoker

(5,850 posts)
8. I thought the Golan Heights was the buffer zone?
Sun Dec 8, 2024, 02:05 PM
Dec 8

Netanyahu just wants to claim more and more territory for Israel.

nmmi

(203 posts)
9. Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981. So it's been a done deal for 43 years. Bibi wants to expand it
Sun Dec 8, 2024, 02:10 PM
Dec 8

Edited to add: Neither the UN nor the international community has recognized that annexation. As for the U.S. ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golan_Heights

On 25 March 2019, then-President of the United States Donald Trump proclaimed U.S. recognition of the Golan Heights as a part of the State of Israel, making it the first country to do so.[232][233] Israeli officials lobbied the United States into recognizing "Israeli sovereignty" over the territory.[234] The 28 member states of the European Union declared in turn that they do not recognize Israeli sovereignty, and several experts on international law reiterated that the principle remains that land gained by either defensive or offensive wars cannot be legally annexed under international law.[235][236][237] The European members of the UN Security Council issued a joint statement condemning the US announcement and the UN Secretary-General issued a statement saying that the status of the Golan had not changed.[238]

Under the subsequent administration of President Joe Biden, the US State Department's annual report on human rights violations around the world once more refers to the West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights as being territories occupied by Israel.[239] In June 2021, the Biden administration affirmed that it will continue to maintain the previous administration's policy of recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.[240]
. . .
[240] Lazaroff, Tova (26 June 2021). "US: No change to policy recognizing Israeli sovereignty on Golan". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 28 June 2021. ( https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/us-no-change-to-policy-recognizing-israeli-sovereignty-on-golan-672052 )
Emphasis added by nmmi

The essense of the Jerusalem Post article:
The United States rejected as “false” a claim by the Washington Free Beacon that it had “walked back” its recognition of Israeli sovereignty on the Golan Heights.

“US policy regarding the Golan has not changed, and reports to the contrary are false,” the State Department tweeted under its Near Eastern Affairs account on Friday.

It spoke up less than 24 hours after the Beacon published its report, which claimed that the US was rescinding the Golan sovereignty recognition granted Israel in 2018 under the Trump administration.

FBaggins

(27,802 posts)
14. I doubt that he wants to expand it
Sun Dec 8, 2024, 06:23 PM
Dec 8

But the pull out of the Syrian army forces leaves substantial equipment and resources that they obviously don't want a new anti-israel Syrian government to have.

They're trying to limit the threat that Syria can pose to Israel in the near future

nmmi

(203 posts)
10. Some additional info
Sun Dec 8, 2024, 04:28 PM
Dec 8

Three key points from
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143352969

Israel notified the U.S. in advance about its operation to take control of the buffer zone on the border with Syria and several other key locations on the Syrian side of the border, ...

Israel told the Biden administration this is a temporary move that will last a few days to a few weeks, until the security situation along the border stabilizes

Israeli and U.S. officials said that rebel groups attacked at least four UNDOF (United Nations Disengagement Observer Force) positions on the Syrian side of the buffer zone in recent days.
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