Israel bolsters border security after Syrian rebels seize Damascus Golan Heights closed

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has decided to tighten restrictions on several cities near the Syrian border following the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime and the takeover of Damascus by Islamist rebels.

The IDF imposed closed military zones in the Golan Heights on the Israeli side of the border with Syria, as it beefs up defences following the fall of the Assad regime, Caliber.Az reports via Israeli media.

The military says agricultural areas near Merom Golan, Ein Zivan, Buq’ata and Khirbet Ein Hura will be off-limits for civilians until the end of the month.

Farmers will be allowed to enter some areas within the closed zones “for periods of a few hours, based on military necessity” and in coordination with the IDF.

Meanwhile, the IDF Home Front Command has ruled that schools in the four Druze communities in the northern Golan Heights — Buq’ata, Ein Qiniye, Mas’ade and Majdal Shams — will carry out studies online. Daycares will still operate as usual in those towns.

On December 7, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced the infiltration of armed men from the Syrian side into the buffer zone on the ceasefire line. About this he wrote on social network X.

“Israel is concerned about violations of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement between Israel and Syria, which also pose a threat to its security, the safety of its communities, and its citizens, particularly in the Golan Heights region,” the minister said and emphasized that Israel does not intervene in the internal conflict in Syria.

Restrictions are already in place in much of northern Israel, including in the Golan Heights, prohibiting, among other things, going to schools in areas without bomb shelters.

The rebels seized Damascus some ten days after launching an offensive in Idlib and Aleppo provinces. Within a few days, the country's largest cities came under their control, the army did not offer sustained resistance. Moscow supported the Syrian government, the Russian Air Force carried out airstrikes against militant units.

By Khagan Isayev