Israel Says Troops Will Remain on Mount Hermon at Syrian Border Indefinitely

Israel occupied Syrian military positions on the mountain, which straddles the two nations’ frontier, as the Assad government fell in December 2024.

Israeli army humvees move in the U.N.-patrolled buffer zone separating Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights near the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights on Dec. 21, 2024. Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images

In talks with the head of a U.N. observer force, Syria’s new government has urged for Israel’s withdrawal from Syrian territory, but Israel says it is staying indefinitely in at least one position.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said after visiting troops on top of Mount Hermon on Jan. 28 that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had no intention of vacating it.