
By Sama Marwan,
The Washington Post reported that Israel is constructing new sites in Syria, raising local concerns about a potential occupation.
According to the newspaper, when Israeli occupation forces stormed Syrian villages last December, soldiers told residents that their presence would be temporary, aimed at confiscating weapons and securing the area following the collapse of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. However, the vehicles that followed suggested a more permanent presence.
The Washington Post quoted Jbata al-Khashab’s mayor, Mohammed Marioud, who witnessed Israeli forces building a new military site on the edge of his village. He questioned, “They are building military bases—how can this be temporary?”
The newspaper stated that it had reviewed satellite images showing more than five buildings and vehicles within an Israeli base surrounded by walls, with an almost identical structure five miles further south. Newly constructed roads connect both sites to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which has been under Israeli control since 1967. Another cleared area several miles further south appears to be a preparation site for a third base, according to experts.
Israeli tanks and troops crossed the Alpha Line—the ceasefire boundary that has been in place for the past 50 years—just hours after Assad’s rule collapsed in December. They entered the UN-supervised demilitarized zone within Syrian territory and, at times, went beyond it.
The Washington Post noted that Israeli forces have been moving in and out of the 90-square-mile buffer zone, which is supposed to remain demilitarized under the 1974 ceasefire agreement between Israel and Syria. Israel, however, has stated that it considers the agreement null and void following Assad’s downfall.