White House Signals Approval of Israeli Seizure of Buffer Zone inside Syria

Israeli soldiers open a gate at the security fence between Israel and Syria, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 10 December 2024. (EPA)
Israeli soldiers open a gate at the security fence between Israel and Syria, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 10 December 2024. (EPA)
TT
20

White House Signals Approval of Israeli Seizure of Buffer Zone inside Syria

Israeli soldiers open a gate at the security fence between Israel and Syria, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 10 December 2024. (EPA)
Israeli soldiers open a gate at the security fence between Israel and Syria, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 10 December 2024. (EPA)

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."



Palestinians in West Bank Strike to Demand End to Gaza War

Israeli machinery maneuvers during an Israeli operation in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta/File Photo
Israeli machinery maneuvers during an Israeli operation in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta/File Photo
TT
20

Palestinians in West Bank Strike to Demand End to Gaza War

Israeli machinery maneuvers during an Israeli operation in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta/File Photo
Israeli machinery maneuvers during an Israeli operation in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta/File Photo

Shuttered storefronts lined empty streets in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank on Monday, as Palestinians held a general strike demanding an end to the Gaza war.

"I walked through the city today and couldn't find a single place that was open," Fadi Saadi, a shopkeeper in Bethlehem, told AFP.

Shops, schools and most public administrative offices were closed across the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

A coalition of Palestinian political movements -- including rivals Fatah and Hamas -- called the strike to protest what they described as "the genocide and the ongoing massacre of our people".

It called for the strike "in all the occupied Palestinian territories, in the refugee camps... and among those who support our cause".

Israel resumed airstrikes on Gaza on March 18, ending nearly two months of ceasefire with Hamas. Dozens of Palestinians have been killed almost daily since Israel restarted its military offensive.

"We close today about our family in Gaza, our children in Gaza," said Imad Salman, 68, who owns a souvenir shop in Jerusalem's Old City.

"In Jerusalem, in the West Bank, we can't do something more than what we're doing here now," he told AFP.

In Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, the usually bustling commercial Salaheddin street was empty.

"This strike is in solidarity with Gaza and what is happening there, and the war being waged against the Palestinian people, whether by (US President Donald) Trump, (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu, the Israeli government, or the American government," said Ahmed, who did not want to his surname.

"This war must stop, the killing and destruction must stop, and only peace should prevail -- peace, and nothing but peace."

A rally is planned Monday in the center of the West Bank city of Ramallah, where the Palestinian Authority has its headquarters.

"This time, the strike is serious, and the population's commitment is significant because Israeli aggression now affects all Palestinian households, whether in the West Bank or Gaza," said Issam Baker, a community organiser in Ramallah.

"We have seen total commitment in support of the strike today throughout the West Bank, which has not happened since October 7" 2023, when the Gaza war started, said a security source from the Palestinian Authority.

Since the start of the Gaza war, violence has soared in the West Bank.

Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 918 Palestinians, including militants, in the territory since then, according to health ministry figures.

Palestinian attacks and clashes during military raids have killed at least 33 Israelis, including soldiers, over the same period, according to official figures.