ANKARA

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the Israeli army on Friday to remain stationed in the buffer zone on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon during the winter months following its occupation of the area on Dec. 8, the day anti-regime forces marched into Damascus, forcing Bashar al-Assad to flee to Russia. 

“Due to what is happening in Syria, there is a huge security importance to our holding of the Hermon peak,” Katz said in a statement.

Everything must be done to ensure the Israeli army's preparations in the area, allowing the troops to stay in the harsh weather conditions, he added.

The decision to extend the army's stay in the occupied zone came after Katz, Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, and other military officials met late Thursday to assess the situation in Syria.

Israeli army forces have entered 2-10 kilometers deep within the demilitarized buffer zone along the border with Syria, an Israeli source, who preferred to remain unnamed, told Anadolu.

He, however, declined to specify the Syrian villages in the buffer zone where the Israeli forces are deployed for "security reasons.”

Israel captured the buffer zone after anti-regime forces seized Damascus on Dec. 8, sending Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fleeing to Russia after a 13-year civil war and 53 years of his family rule.

According to the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), the buffer zone “extends over 75 kilometers in length and ranges in width from approximately 10 kilometers in the center to 200 meters in the far south.”  

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi​​​​​​​