Israel Transfers Military Equipment, Winter Quarters to its Forces in Syria

Israeli trucks cut off a buffer zone between Syria and Israel at the town of Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights (EPA) 
Israeli trucks cut off a buffer zone between Syria and Israel at the town of Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights (EPA) 
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Israel Transfers Military Equipment, Winter Quarters to its Forces in Syria

Israeli trucks cut off a buffer zone between Syria and Israel at the town of Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights (EPA) 
Israeli trucks cut off a buffer zone between Syria and Israel at the town of Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights (EPA) 

The Israeli Army is preparing for a longer and indefinite stay in the Syrian territories, which it invaded on December 8 following the fall of the Bashar Al-Assad regime.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Israeli army said it was sending insulated structures and equipment for its forces to reside in the Syrian Hermon area during the harsh winter weather.

“As part of the logistical effort, equipment was provided to support the troops’ stay in severe weather conditions, with unique adaptations to the extreme weather conditions in the area,” the army statement read.

The army provided infrastructure and equipment capable of withstanding various weather conditions, including temporary structures with additional insulation against the cold, heating devices, generators, and a water heating system.

It also offered a specialized medical facility for treating cold-related injuries equipped with appropriate medical devices, as well as kitchens and a dining room to enable the provision of hot meals for the soldiers.

“Thousands of winter items were distributed to the soldiers in the region, with an emphasis on specialized equipment for snowy conditions, including heating packs, coats, storm suits, and winter boots,” the army statement said.

Israel still occupies the Syrian Golan Heights since the October war of 1973. Today, Israeli settlements control 95% of the land of the Golan Heights. Since the fall of Assad’s regime, Israel has occupied 600 km of Syrian territory.

The Israeli army spoke about a “temporary” stay in the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, where its troops have been deployed since last month. But the provision of structures and equipment to reside on the mountain during the harsh winter weather indicates that the army will remain there indefinitely.

The Israeli army is also systematically confiscating huge quantities of weapons and ammunition, which the Syrian army left behind, including tanks, guns, armored vehicles, anti-tank missiles, binoculars and others.

Earlier this month, roughly 30 Israeli soldiers, supported by three bulldozers and three tanks, had infiltrated in the Badaa town, located about 20 kilometers from the Mezzeh Military Airport, northeast Mount Hermon on the border between Syria and Lebanon.

The soldiers began digging trenches and established a dirt road along the Israeli border toward Al-Dureiat area, where they destroyed a farmland with bulldozers.

Israeli forces also deployed reinforcements to Al-Jazeera barracks in Ma'ariya village, in the Daraa countryside, near the Syrian-Jordanian border. They installed high concrete barriers and paved all the roads leading to the barracks.

Sources said that for the first time, the Israeli army begun conducting armored patrols on the foothills at the base of the strategic Mount Hermon on the Syria-Lebanon border.



Egypt, Spain Reject US Plan to Displace Gazans

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (R) and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hold a signed agreements following their meeting at Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, 19 February 2025. (EPA)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (R) and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hold a signed agreements following their meeting at Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, 19 February 2025. (EPA)
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Egypt, Spain Reject US Plan to Displace Gazans

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (R) and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hold a signed agreements following their meeting at Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, 19 February 2025. (EPA)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (R) and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hold a signed agreements following their meeting at Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, 19 February 2025. (EPA)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday rejected a controversial proposal by US President Donald Trump to displace Palestinians from the war-devastated Gaza Strip.  

The Arab League is scheduled to hold an extraordinary meeting in Cairo on March 4 in response to Trump's plan to take over Gaza and permanently move its Palestinian inhabitants elsewhere, including to Egypt and Jordan, and then redevelop the coastal territory into the "Riviera of the Middle East".  

Speaking in Madrid ahead of the gathering, Sisi called for the "international community's support and adoption of a plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip without displacing the Palestinian people -- I repeat, without displacing the Palestinian people -- from their land, which they cling to, and their homeland, which they do not agree to relinquish".

Sanchez, one of the staunchest defenders of the Palestinian cause within the European Union, agreed, saying "Gaza belongs to the Palestinians and is part of the future Palestinian state".

"Their expulsion would not only be immoral and contrary to international law and United Nations resolutions, but would also have a destabilizing effect," the Socialist premier added.  

The two leaders also signed a declaration upgrading Egypt-Spain relations to a "strategic partnership", as well as several memorandums of understanding in various fields including illegal migration and defense.  

Trump's plan sparked an outcry from Arab governments as well as from world leaders, and the United Nations warned against "ethnic cleansing" in the Palestinian territory.