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)
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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."



Lebanon Detains Several People on Suspicion of Firing Rockets at Israel

A view shows a damaged site in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, as Israeli troops withdrew from most of south Lebanon, in Lebanon, February 19, 2025. (Reuters)
A view shows a damaged site in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, as Israeli troops withdrew from most of south Lebanon, in Lebanon, February 19, 2025. (Reuters)
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Lebanon Detains Several People on Suspicion of Firing Rockets at Israel

A view shows a damaged site in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, as Israeli troops withdrew from most of south Lebanon, in Lebanon, February 19, 2025. (Reuters)
A view shows a damaged site in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, as Israeli troops withdrew from most of south Lebanon, in Lebanon, February 19, 2025. (Reuters)

The Lebanese military said it has detained a group of people linked to firing rockets into Israel last month.

In a statement issued late Wednesday night, the army said it had detained several people, including a number of Palestinians, who were involved in firing rockets in two separate attacks toward Israel in late March that triggered intense Israeli airstrikes on parts of Lebanon. Lebanon’s Hezbollah group denied at the time it was behind the firing of rockets, The Associated Press reported.

The army said that a vehicle and other equipment used in the rockets attacks were confiscated and the detainees were referred to judicial authorities. The army said it had carried out raids in different parts of Lebanon to detain the suspects without giving further details.

On Thursday, the state-run National News Agency reported that Gen. Rodolph Haikal briefed a weekly cabinet meeting about the security situation along the border and the ongoing implementation of the UN Security Council resolution that ended the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war.

Three security and one judicial official told The Associated Press that four Palestinians linked to the Hamas group are being questioned.

A Hamas official told the AP that several members of the group were detained in Lebanon recently and released shortly afterward adding that they were not involved in firing rockets into Israel. He said in one case authorities detained a Hamas member who was carrying an unlicensed pistol.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Hezbollah started launching attacks on Israel a day after the Israel-Hamas war erupted on Oct. 7, 2023 with the Palestinian militants’ attack on southern Israel. The war that left more than 4,000 people dead in Lebanon and caused wide destruction ended in late November with a US-brokered ceasefire.

Since the ceasefire went into effect in late November, Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes that left dozens of civilians and Hezbollah members dead.

On Tuesday, the office of the UN high commissioner for human rights said that at least 71 civilians, including 14 women and nine children, have been killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon since a ceasefire took effect.