Israel’s Campaign in Syrian Border Area Prompts Fears It Plans to Stay

3 weeks ago 16

You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s order for Israeli troops to “take over” a buffer zone with Syria upended decades of relative calm along the de facto border between the two countries.

Two military vehicles are seen on a dirt road with barbed wire fences on both sides.

Jan. 11, 2025Updated 8:47 a.m. ET

Israeli soldiers have raided Syrian border villages, prompting nervous residents to huddle in their homes. They have captured the country’s highest peak, have set up roadblocks between Syrian towns and now overlook local villages from former Syrian military outposts.

The stunning downfall of Syria’s longtime leader, Bashar al-Assad, closed a chapter in the country’s decade-long civil war. But it also marked the start of an Israeli incursion into the border region, which Israel has called a temporary defensive move to protect its own security.

Thousands of Syrians now live in areas at least partly controlled by Israeli forces, leaving many anxious over how long the campaign will last. Israeli troops have detained some residents and opened fire during at least two protests against the raids, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an independent monitor.

At least some Syrians now say they fear the Israeli presence could become a prolonged military occupation.

“We’re the only part of the country that didn’t truly manage to celebrate the fall of the Assad regime — because even as the tyrant fell, the Israeli military came,” lamented Shaher al-Nuaimi, who lives in the border village of Khan Arnabeh, which has been raided by the Israeli military.

Image

Israeli troops on the Syrian side of the buffer zone between Israel and Syria.Credit...Atef Safadi/EPA, via Shutterstock