Tel Aviv is planning to initiate an international conference to discuss its plans in post-Assad Syria, which allegedly include ensuring ‘safety’ for minorities
News Desk - The Cradle
A recent cabinet session led by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz focused on the changes that have taken place in Syria, including concerns about the new government and the fate of the Kurdish minority in the north.
During the session, Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen proposed the idea of the conference to “ensure the safety of [their] northern border and allow Israel to actively defend itself against threats from rebel groups.”
Part of this conference would be discussing the idea of splitting Syria into “cantons” – different administrative divisions.
“The main fear is that an idea that is identified with Israel will necessarily not be accepted in Syria, which is why the discussions on the matter are classified,” and a conference needs to be held, Israel Hayom adds. Its goal is to allow Israel to “defend itself” from potential threats posed by new authorities in Syria – led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
The report notes that the 1974 border agreement between Israel and Syria is not respected by HTS-led authorities. Tel Aviv immediately and publicly withdrew from the decades-old deal after the fall of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s government, which saw its forces immediately invade the country and start a bombing campaign.
The conference also aims to guarantee “safety” for minority groups, including Kurds in Syria.
According to the report, ministers discussed during the cabinet session ways to counter the strong Turkish influence in Syria – which has been solidified since the overthrow of the former government.
Sources cited by the Israeli newspaper say that while Tel Aviv does not intend to remain in the parts of Syria it occupied after the fall of Assad, it has no plans of withdrawal yet.
Assad’s government fell on 8 December after an 11-day shock offensive that resulted in the collapse of the Syrian military and ended with the storming of the capital by HTS-led extremists.
While the new government has vowed to protect minorities, there have been numerous instances of attacks on Christian and Alawite holy sites, symbols, and towns. Executions of Alawite civilians and former government soldiers have also been widely reported. Extremists and ex-Al-Qaeda elements have assumed several official posts in the new government and its armed forces.
Israeli forces advanced on Syria as soon as the former government collapsed, immediately pushing beyond the UN-monitored buffer zone and sweeping across southern Syria. The Israeli army has now seized several strategic positions and water sources in the south, including near the outskirts of Damascus.
It has threatened Syrian villages, shot at protesters, and besieged government buildings – while receiving little condemnation from the new authorities, which have been waging a violent crackdown on remnants of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and armed residents opposed to HTS and its rule.
Comments and statements by several HTS officials, including its leader, former Al-Qaeda chief Ahmad al-Sharaa (Abu Mohammad al-Julani), have signaled that the new administration in Syria has no plans to make an enemy of Israel or confront it.
Israeli forces briefly detained a French journalist in the buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights on 8 January.
The journalist for French magazine Marianne, Sylvain Mercadier, said he and his colleague were “mistreated for more than four hours” and had their equipment “stolen” by Israeli troops.
Israeli army spokesman Nadav Shoshani said the journalist “came too close” to forces, was detained and questioned, and then released.
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