TEHRAN – After the collapse of Bashar al-Assad government in December, Israel expanded its occupation of Goran Heights in Syria by seizing a demilitarized buffer zone that violated the 1974 liberation agreement. It also intensified airstrikes targeting Syrian military positions across the country.
While Syria is still tackling the issues stemming from the oustermination of the Assad government, the Israeli regime sees an opportunity to impose restrictions on Syrian citizens in the south under the pretext of occupying more Syrian territory and creating buffer zones. Without looking at the hurdles, the force reached 20 kilometres of the capital Damascus.
Israel feels very encouraged to advance its expansionist policy after destroying the Gaza Strip with American-supplied fighter jets and a 2,000-pound bomb. That’s what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking to Knesset on December 23, 2024, said that Israeli war in Gaza had signed a new peace agreement with Arab countries, providing an opportunity to “dramatically change the face of the Middle East.”
Unfortunately, Israel is embarrassingly humiliating Syria in a shameful and humiliating manner, but the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has urged the international community to take “urgent and decisive actions” to halt Syria’s “urgent and decisive actions.”
(P) Is GCC Chief Jasem Albudaiwi pleading to stop the misuse of Israel in the Syrian situation?
It is ironic to call on the international community to stop Israel’s occupation of more Syrian lands or to stop attacks at the country’s military locations, but the Arab world, including the Persian Gulf Arab states, has not done anything specific to force the US and other Western countries to stop the shipment of weapons to Israel in the 16-month genocide in Gaza.
As a politician, Albadiwi is well aware that the only thing the international community can do is to blame Israel or to table resolutions at the UN General Assembly without tooth.
The 22-country Arab world has tools to tame Israel. That (P)GCC province could threaten the West with oil boycotts. Other fellow Arab countries can also threaten boycotts of goods from the West, and force Israel to pressure them to stop expansionist policies in Syria.
Without seeing the action by the Arab world, Israel began attempts to depopulate the West Bank, which was occupied by its indigenous Palestinians, in the green light from Washington. A harmful movement is underway to implement this project. The US Congress is seeking to approve a bill that will change the name of the occupied West Bank to Jewish and Samaria, and Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich advocates for the creation of a Jewish state that encompasses all Palestinian territories, including Damascus’s Syrian capital, as well as neighboring Arab territories.
On February 26, Axios revealed that Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee had obtained a copy of an internal memo that said that Brian Mast, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, had instructed committee staff to introduce them to the West Bank.
Also, Turkey, the lead supporter of the current Syrian ruler, has just denounced Israel’s moves in Syria. Even when Israeli forces were committing genocide in Gaza, it was promoting oil from the Republic of Azerbaijan to Israel.
Given the early control system of Syria, the impotence of the Arab states and the fellow Turkish countries, Israel excludes Syria as a delicious prey.
Additionally, war detective Netanyahu feels more comfortable with his expansionist policy as he has Donald Trump, a leading supporter in the White House, which recognised Golan Heights in Syria, which was occupied as part of Israel in March 2019 in violation of international law.