By Athena Papakosta

It bombed dozens of military targets Israel once again in the early hours of Sunday, despite the fact that the leader of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Abu Muhammad al-Golani made it clear that there is absolutely no interest in conflict with Tel Aviv.

The new position of Abu Mohammed al-Golani coincided with the announcement of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahuthat Israel intends to double its population in the occupied territories Golan Heights with settlement expansion, underscoring that threats from Syria remain, despite moderate statements from the head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that ousted Assad a week ago.

Mr. Netanyahu added that Israel is not interested in a conflict with Israel either Syriawhile a few 24 hours ago the Minister of Defense of Israel, Israel Katzcalled on the Israeli Armed Forces to be prepared to spend the entire winter on Mount Hermon.

Speaking on Syrian state television, Abu Mohammed al-Golani emphasized that “there are no excuses” for Israel to carry out raids in Syria, explaining that “the Iranians have left.” Speaking even of “false excuses”, al-Jolani insisted that only “diplomatic solutions” are the way to stability.

At the same time, the outgoing United States Secretary of State, Anthony Blinkenwas completing his talks in the region having visited Jordan, Turkey and Iraq where he raised the issue of stability in Syria in the post-Assad era.

But Israel launched more than 60 airstrikes again within a few hours, targeting military facilities and ammunition depots across Syrian territory, while the total number of attacks has exceeded 440 since the fall of Bashar al-Assad until today.

For the West, a new cycle of anxiety is opening. Western officials and analysts, observing the continuous strikes by the Israelis, fear that a new occupation of territories by Israel at the expense of Syria is just around the corner.

But for Netanyahu himself, things are different. As he explained, “strengthening the Golan is strengthening the state of Israel”, while he did not hide his intentions, emphasizing that “we will continue to hold it, we will make it flourish and there will be a settlement in it”.

The UN has already called on Israel to withdraw its forces from the neutral zone citing a “violation of the 1974 agreement”. But Israel emphasizes that the agreement has ceased to exist after the collapse of the Assad regime.

The withdrawal of the Israeli Armed Forces from this point on the map has also been requested by France, Spain and Germany.

The Golan Heights

We remind you that, Israel occupied part of the Golan Heights from Syria during the Six-Day War in 1967. The demilitarized, UN-controlled safe zone was created as part of an agreement to disengage Israeli and Syrian armed forces in 1974, following the Yom Kippur War (1973).

However, Israel annexed the occupied part of the Syrian Golan in 1981. The international community recognizes it as Syrian territory.