Israel orders troops to remain in Mount Hermon, Syria buffer zone through winter
Israel ordered troops to prepare to spend winter on Mount Hermon in the Syria buffer zone after the Assad regime's collapse. And a post office in Nuseirat refugee camp was hit by the IDF, killing dozens according to local health officials.
Israel ordered troops Friday to prepare to remain throughout winter on Mount Hermon — a strategic peak inside a buffer zone that has existed for decades with Syria but which Israeli forces have seized in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse.
It was the latest sign that Israel may maintain a presence in Syria for a prolonged period, defying international pressure to halt its advances and airstrikes as the world hopes to secure a peaceful transition in the country.
On Friday crowds massed in central squares across Syria to celebrate the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, urged on by the head of the Islamist group who led the stunning rebel advance.
The U.S. has defended Israel's actions in Syria. Washington's latest bid to prevent wider conflict in the Middle East has raised hopes of a cease-fire deal with Hamas, despite local officials in Gaza reporting that dozens were killed in the latest Israeli airstrike on a refugee camp in the Palestinian enclave.
Israel has said that its actions in Syria are temporary and defensive, but backlash has grown over what United Nations chief António Guterres on Thursday called “extensive violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity" as he urged Israeli forces to withdraw from the buffer zone.
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