Visiting Mount Hermon on the Syrian side of the border, now under Israel’s control, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday that the Israeli military would remain there indefinitely.

“The Israeli military will remain at the summit of the Hermon and the security zone indefinitely to ensure the security of the communities of the Golan Heights and the north and all the residents of Israel,” Katz said, adding, “We will not allow hostile forces to establish themselves in the security zone in southern Syria.” 

Katz was referring to Israel's current deployment on the Syrian side of a buffer zone established in 1974 as part of the agreement that ended the 1973 Israeli-Arab war. The agreement mandates that the buffer zone remain demilitarized. While the Israeli-Syrian border has remained one of Israel's quietest in recent decades, Hezbollah and the Syrian army operated in several locations along the buffer zone, focused mainly on smuggling weapons across the border to Hezbollah in Lebanon. 

"I came here to ensure that the Israeli military is well prepared for both defense and offense, for a prolonged stay at the Hermon outposts," Katz said. He added that Israel will engage with “friendly populations” in southern Syria, “with an emphasis on the large Druze community, which has historic and close family relations with our Druze brothers in Israel.”