The White House is signaling its approval of Israel’s strikes against Syrian military and alleged chemical weapons targets and the seizure of a buffer zone in the Syrian Golan Heights after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad's government.
"These are exigent operations to eliminate what they believe are imminent threats to their national security," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday, saying the US would leave it up to the Israelis to discuss details of their operations.
"They have as always the right to defend themselves," Kirby said. He declined to detail and US intelligence cooperation with the Israelis that went into the strikes.
Kirby said the White House was reasserting its support of the 1974 Golan Heights disengagement agreement, but didn’t criticize the Israeli seizure of the demilitarized zone.
Israel has a long history of seizing territory during wars with its neighbors and occupying it indefinitely, citing security concerns. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally, except by the United States.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israeli forces were moving to control a roughly 400-square-kilometer (155-square-mile) demilitarized buffer zone in Syrian territory.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia have condemned the incursion, accusing it of exploiting the disarray in Syria and violating international law.
Türkiye "strongly" condemned Israel’s advance into Syrian territory, saying it was in violation of the 1974 agreement.
"We strongly condemn Israel’s violation of the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement, its entry into the separation zone between Israel and Syria, and its advance into Syrian territory," Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry accused Israel of "displaying a mentality of an occupier" at a time when the possibility of peace and stability had emerged in Syria. The statement also reiterated Türkiye’s support to Syria’s "sovereignty, political unity, and territorial integrity."
