Katz: IDF to remain on Mount Hermon, expand security zone in Syria

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will remain stationed at the peak of Mount Hermon and in a surrounding security zone, citing the need to “protect communities in the Golan Heights and Galilee from threats” across the Syrian border.

“The IDF will remain at the peak of Mount Hermon and in the security zone necessary to protect the Golan and Galilee settlements from threats looming from the Syrian side as the main lesson from the events of October 7. We will continue to protect the Druze in Syria as well,” Katz wrote on X, Caliber.Az reports.

צה"ל יישאר בפסגת החרמון ובאזור הביטחון שנחוץ כדי להגן על יישובי הגולן והגליל מפני איומים הנשקפים מהעבר הסורי כלקח המרכזי מאירועי ה-7 באוקטובר.
נוסיף להגן גם על הדרוזים בסוריה.

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) August 26, 2025

His remarks came a day after Syria accused Israel of sending 60 soldiers to seize control of territory inside its border near Mount Hermon, calling the move a violation of its sovereignty and a threat to regional security. The Israeli military said its troops carried out a “routine operational activity” in southern Syria but denied operating in Beit Jinn, a village near Mount Hermon and close to the Lebanese border.

The incident follows months of escalating clashes in southern Syria. Hundreds of people were reported killed in July  in the province of Suwayda in fighting between Druze fighters, Sunni Bedouin tribes and government forces. Israel carried out airstrikes during the clashes, saying it acted to prevent what it called mass killings of Druze civilians by Syrian government troops.

In January,  Katz declared that Israeli troops would remain on the summit of Mount Hermon indefinitely. Since then, the IDF has expanded its control into a de facto security zone, conducting regular patrols, checkpoints, and raids in nearby villages.

By Sabina Mammadli