The Israeli government approves a plan to expand settlements in the Golan Heights

2024-12-15 15:59:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Israeli government approves a plan to expand settlements in the Golan

The Israeli government on Sunday approved a plan to expand Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, saying it was acting "in light of the war and the new front facing Syria" as well as a desire to double Israel's population. in the Golan.

"Strengthening the Golan strengthens the state of Israel and is especially important at this time. We will continue to hold it, make it flourish and settle," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday that threats from Syria persist despite the moderate tone of rebel leaders who ousted President Bashar al-Assad a week ago.

"The immediate dangers to the country have not gone away, and recent developments in Syria heighten the threat - despite the moderate image rebel leaders claim to present," Mr Katz told officials reviewing the country's defense budget, according to a statement.

Syria's de facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, said on Saturday that Israel was using false pretexts to justify its attacks in Syria, but that he is not interested in getting involved in new conflicts as the country focuses on reconstruction.

Sharaa - better known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani - heads the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) that toppled Assad last Sunday, ending his family's five-decade iron-fisted rule .

Since then, Israel has moved into a demilitarized zone inside Syria, which was created after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, which includes the Syrian side of the strategic Mount Hermon overlooking Damascus, where its forces took over an abandoned military post. Syrian.

Israel, which has said it has no intention of staying there and calls the incursion into Syrian territory a limited and temporary measure to ensure border security, has also carried out hundreds of strikes against Syria's strategic weapons stockpiles. It has said it is destroying strategic weapons and military infrastructure to prevent their use by the rebel groups that ousted Assad from power.

Several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, have condemned what they call Israel's seizure of a buffer zone in the Golan Heights.

"The state of war-torn Syria, after years of conflict and war, does not allow for new confrontations. The priority at this stage is reconstruction and stability and not new tensions that could lead to further destruction," Sharaa said in an interview. published on the website of Syria TV, a pro-rebel channel.

He also said that diplomatic solutions were the only way to guarantee security and stability and that "unweighted military adventures" are not necessary./VOA