Israel not to leave buffer zone it occupied inside Syria: Netanyahu
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Tel Aviv: Israel Prime Minister Benjamin asserted that his forces will stay in the buffer zone it occupied inside the Syrian territory, even after requests from Syrian rebel Islamist groups. Israel had seized the region in question following the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Netanyahu, speaking from the summit of Mount Hermon, said that Israel would occupy the region until another arrangement is made, ensuring Israel's security, The Associated Press reported.
"We will stay ... until another arrangement is found that ensures Israel's security," said Netanyahu, who had travelled to the buffer zone on Tuesday with Defense Minister Israel Katz.
It appeared to be the first time a sitting Israeli leader had set foot that far into Syria. Netanyahu said he had been on the same mountaintop 53 years ago as a soldier, but the summit's importance to Israel's security has only increased given recent events.
Israel seized a swath of southern Syria along the border with the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights days after Assad was ousted by rebels last week.
Israel's capture of the buffer zone, a roughly 400-square-kilometer (155-square-mile) demilitarised area in Syrian territory, has sparked condemnation, with critics accusing Israel of violating a 1974 ceasefire and possibly exploiting the chaos in Syria in the wake of Assad's ouster to make a land grab.
The buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights was created by the UN after the 1973 Mideast war. A UN force of about 1,100 troops had patrolled the area since then.
A UN spokesman said Tuesday that the advance of Israeli troops, however long it lasts, violates the 1974 deal that set up the buffer zone.