"We will remain in the security zone": Katz visited Syria - and sent a message to Turkey and Erdogan

Defense Minister Israel Katz visited IDF commanders and soldiers today on Mount Hermon in Syria. The visit was attended by Deputy Chief of Staff Major General Tamir Yadai, Northern Command Chief Major General Rafi Milo, Head of the Syria Directorate in the IDF Major General Rassan Alian, 210th Division Commander Brigadier General Yair Palai, Military Secretary to the Minister of Defense Brigadier General Hisham Ibrahim, and other commanders. Katz received a comprehensive briefing from IDF commanders and praised the commanders and soldiers, both regular and reserve, for their activity in the sector.

From the Defense Minister's remarks:

"We are here on Mount Hermon, where the Syrian Hermon outpost used to be. Today, IDF forces are here and throughout the Hermon and the Golan Heights and the entire security zone, observing Damascus from above, a distance of 35 kilometers, observing the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon, the stronghold of Hezbollah from above, and of course observing and protecting the communities of the Golan Heights and the Galilee against jihadist forces that are here on the other side: some within the Syrian regime, some in various terrorist organizations. From every direction, their goal is to attack the State of Israel, and the IDF, which is here and will remain here and will not move from here, ensures that these things will not happen again — this is the main lesson from October 7.

There is daily activity here to thwart threats, to thwart the remnants of the old regime, to prevent dangerous organization of the new regime, and the message is clear also to the president of Syria: when you wake up in the morning in the palace in Damascus and look up at the Hermon and see the IDF — you know that we are here to protect our communities and our border. As long as there are threats, the IDF will remain here in order to ensure our security — this is what we have done and this is what we intend to do in the future.

We acted against a Turkish attempt to establish a foothold in Syria while risking Israel's security interests, we clarified the matters clearly and we will stand by them in the future as well.

We acted so that Syria would not pose a threat to the State of Israel, we destroyed all the strategic infrastructure of the Assad army in a strike of several days, we are dealing with threats here to ensure security and that is what we will continue to do."