Netanyahu Says Israel Will Remain on Mt Hermon 'Until Another Arrangement is Found'

17 December 2024, Israel, Mount Hermon: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2nd R) visits an observation point on the summit of Mount Hermon. Photo: Ma'yan Toaf/GPO/dpa
17 December 2024, Israel, Mount Hermon: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2nd R) visits an observation point on the summit of Mount Hermon. Photo: Ma'yan Toaf/GPO/dpa
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Netanyahu Says Israel Will Remain on Mt Hermon 'Until Another Arrangement is Found'

17 December 2024, Israel, Mount Hermon: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2nd R) visits an observation point on the summit of Mount Hermon. Photo: Ma'yan Toaf/GPO/dpa
17 December 2024, Israel, Mount Hermon: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2nd R) visits an observation point on the summit of Mount Hermon. Photo: Ma'yan Toaf/GPO/dpa

Israel will remain on the strategic Mount Hermon site on the Syrian border until another arrangement is found, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Israeli troops occupied Mount Hermon when they moved into a demilitarized zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights following the collapse of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government this month.

Officials have described the move as a limited and temporary measure to ensure the security of Israel's borders but have given no indication of when the troops might be withdrawn and Defense Minister Israel Katz last week ordered troops to prepare to remain on Mount Hermon over the winter.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu went to the site for an operational briefing with military commanders and security officials.

"We are holding this assessment in order to decide on the deployment of the IDF in this important place until another arrangement is found that ensures Israel's security," he said in a statement issued by his office late on Tuesday, referring to the Israeli army.

Israel's move into the buffer zone created following the 1973 Arab-Israeli war has been criticized as a violation of international agreements by a number of countries and the United Nations, which have called for the troops to be withdrawn.



UN's Syria Envoy Calls for 'Free And Fair Elections' after Transition

A man lifts an independence-era Syrian flag as passengers disembark in Aleppo, after the first commercial flight since Assad's ouster - AFP
A man lifts an independence-era Syrian flag as passengers disembark in Aleppo, after the first commercial flight since Assad's ouster - AFP
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UN's Syria Envoy Calls for 'Free And Fair Elections' after Transition

A man lifts an independence-era Syrian flag as passengers disembark in Aleppo, after the first commercial flight since Assad's ouster - AFP
A man lifts an independence-era Syrian flag as passengers disembark in Aleppo, after the first commercial flight since Assad's ouster - AFP

United Nations special envoy Geir Pedersen called Wednesday for "free and fair elections" in Syria and urged humanitarian assistance to the war-torn country after Bashar al-Assad's ouster this month.

Addressing reporters in Damascus, Pedersen said "there is a lot of hope that we can now see the beginning of a new Syria", which he expressed hope would also include a "political solution" in the Kurdish-held northeast.

The UN envoy called for "a new Syria that, in line with Security Council Resolution 2254, will adopt a new constitution... and that we will have free and fair elections when that time comes, after a transitional period."

Resolution 2254, adopted in 2015 at the height of the civil war, set out a roadmap for a political settlement in Syria, according to AFP.

After opposition factions captured Damascus on December 8 and toppled Assad's rule, Pedersen expressed his hope the Syrians can rebuild their country and that "the process to end sanctions" imposed under the former government could begin.

"We need immediate humanitarian assistance, but we also need to make sure that Syria can be rebuilt, that we can see economic recovery," he said.

Pedersen noted that "one of the biggest challenges is the situation in the northeast", amid fears of a major escalation between the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Türkiye-backed armed groups.

Türkiye accuses the main component of the SDF, the People's Protection Units (YPG), of being affiliated with Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants at home, whom both Washington and Ankara consider a "terrorist" group.

The United States said on Tuesday it had brokered an extension to a fragile ceasefire in the flashpoint town of Manbij and was seeking a broader understanding with Türkiye.

"I'm very pleased that the truce has been renewed and that it seems to be holding, but hopefully we will see a political solution to that issue," Pedersen said.