A show of strength by the Israeli prime minister. Speaking from the top of Syria’s Mount Hermon, recently captured by the IDF, Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Tuesday that Israel would remain until a “another arrangement”. His visit appeared to mark the first time a sitting Israeli leader had entered Syrian territory, the Times of Israel reported.

The Israeli prime minister stressed the strategic importance of the summit after the fall of Assad, accompanied by Defense Minister Israel Katz who said the presence of Israeli forces there would also deter Syrian rebels from targeting Israel.

Benjamin Netanyahu thus confirmed that Israeli troops will remain stationed inside Syria for the “immediate future”, as he met with senior security officials for a review of the situation on the mountaintop.

This place has not changed, it is the same place, but its importance to Israel’s security has only increased

In addition to Defense Minister Katz, the meeting was attended by Israel’s Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, Shin Bet Chief Ronen Batt and Northern Command Chief Major General Uri Gordin.

Israel entered the UN safe zone in the Golan Heights hours after rebels in Syria captured Damascus on December 8, stressing that the occupation of the buffer zone created in 1974 is a temporary defensive move that will last only until it is secured security along the border. Israel says it does not want to get involved in the conflict in Syria.

Standing atop Mount Hermon, Netanyahu reiterated that Israel will remain on its summit “until another arrangement is found that guarantees Israel’s security.”

“This place has not changed, it is the same place, but its importance for the security of Israel has only strengthened in recent years, and especially in recent weeks with the dramatic events taking place below us here in Syria,” Netanyahu said.

He added that going forward, Israel will “determine the best arrangement that will guarantee our security.”

Echoing the same sentiments as the prime minister, Defense Minister Katz described Mount Hermon as “the eyes of the state of Israel for detecting threats near and far.”

“The IDF is here to protect the communities of the Golan Heights and the citizens of the State of Israel from any threat, from the most important place to do so,” he said in statements issued by his office.

“We’re going to stay here as long as it takes,” Katz added. “Our presence here on top of the mountain enhances security and adds a dimension of both observation and deterrence to Hezbollah’s strongholds in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon and deterrence against the rebels in Damascus, who pretend to present a moderate image but belong to the most extreme Islamic sects”.

Katz’s comments appeared to refer to the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, whose fighters and allies surged into the Syrian capital on December 8.

Since Assad’s fall, the group’s leader, Ahmed al-Sara, better known by the moniker Abu Mohammed al-Julani, has insisted that the rights of all Syrians, regardless of religion or nationality, will be protected under his leadership.

In an interview with Britain’s Times newspaper on Monday, al-Sara said his group was “bound to the 1974 agreement” with Israel that created the demilitarized zone on Syrian territory at the end of the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

“We don’t want any conflict, whether with Israel or anyone else, and we will not let Syria be used as a launch pad for attacks,” he said.

al-Sara however called on Israel to “retire to his previous positions” and criticized heavy Israeli strikes in recent days that have disabled most of the Assad regime’s military assets, reiterating its position that Israel had the right to target Iranian-backed forces before the government fell, but that it has not no longer any legal basis to continue operating in Syria.

“There is no justification for the Israelis to bomb Syrian facilities or advance into Syria.” he said, according to the Wall Street Journal.

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