MOSCOW, December 9. /TASS/. The Israeli army will try to exploit the ongoing chaos in Syria to seize more territories from the country, Vladimir Fitin, Middle East expert and adviser to the director of the Russian Institute of Strategic Research, told TASS.
"I believe that Israel will probably try to occupy more Syrian territories as it has done in the past, taking advantage of the current disarray in the country," the expert pointed out. He added that the international community would not recognize Israel’s right to the occupied lands but the Jewish state would de facto gain a foothold in the areas it would like to capture.
Fitin cast doubt on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims that the deployment of troops to the buffer zone is a defensive and temporary measure "This could very well last much longer than stated," he noted.
Commenting on the role of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights in resolving the situation, the expert stressed that its presence "is largely symbolic." "They have no impact on hostilities, and if actual clashes break out, they seek to pull back so as not to endanger UN personnel," Fitin added. In his view, UNDOF’s role is to separate the warring parties and maintain a ceasefire if one is reached.
On the morning of December 8, the Israel Defense Forces declared the deployment of its troops in a buffer zone separating the Golan Heights, controlled by the Jewish state, and Syria. According to the army, the move is completely defensive and Israel has no plans to interfere in the developments in Syria.
On November 27, Syria’s armed opposition units launched a large-scale offensive on the positions of government forces in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib. By the evening of December 7, they seized several large cities and entered Damascus on December 8, while the army withdrew from the Syrian capital. Bashar Assad resigned as president and left the country following intra-Syrian talks.
Golan Heights
The Golan Heights, which had belonged to Syria since 1944, were seized by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War. In 1981, the Israeli parliament passed a law unilaterally declaring sovereignty over the Golan Heights. The UN Security Council declared the annexation null and void in its Resolution 497 on December 17, 1981.