Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, visited Syria accompanied by the Defense Minister, stressing that Israel will not allow any terrorist army to establish bases near its borders amid ongoing tensions.
On 9 September 2026, foreign news agencies reported that Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's Prime Minister, traveled to Syria with Defense Minister Israel Katz and military forces. During the visit to Mount Hermon, Netanyahu stated that Israel's main goal is to defeat the 'terrorist government in Iran' and emphasized that Israel will not permit any 'terrorist army to settle along Israel's border'.
Reports indicate that after Bashar al-Assad's government collapsed in December 2024 when rebel forces entered Damascus, Israel launched hundreds of airstrikes across Syria. These mostly targeted Syrian military equipment and assets to prevent them from falling into the hands of those who would succeed Assad. Following Assad's sudden fall, Israel feared that Syrian rebels might attack Israel and also saw this as an opportunity to disrupt Iran's ability to smuggle weapons through Syria to the Hezbollah armed group in Lebanon.
However, the United Nations and other critics say that Israel's occupation of buffer zones in Syria violates the 1974 ceasefire agreement. Meanwhile, residents in areas currently under Israeli control have not been ordered to evacuate but face checkpoints and a tense atmosphere, including occasional clashes between Israeli soldiers and local civilians.
Source: AP