On December 8, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) moved units into several locations in a buffer zone that separates the Israeli side of the Golan from the Syrian side of the border. The IDF said the move was designed “to ensure the safety of the communities of the Golan Heights and the citizens of Israel.” Israel said it is not seeking to interfere in developments in Syria. The move was one of several Israel took on December 7 and December 8 as the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad collapsed.
The Assad regime’s collapse began soon after Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire on November 27. The Syrian opposition group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) marched on Aleppo in a lightning-fast offensive from northwest Syria’s Idlib province in late November. After Aleppo, the group reached Hama and then Homs. By December 7, rebels in southern Syria had seized areas between Damascus and Jordan, and it was clear the Syrian regime wouldn’t last long.
The IDF began sending more forces to the Golan Heights to bolster the 210th Division in charge of defending the Israel-Syria border. The area on the Syrian side had been controlled by rebels and other groups prior to 2018. Now, the insurgents returned, and Israel was unsure if this situation could lead to threats along the border amid the chaos. IDF Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi visited the 210th Division on December 7 to assess Israel’s readiness for what might come next.
Israel prepared quickly for this turn of events. On December 6, the IDF completed a drill in the southern Golan and the Jordan Valley. “During the exercise, the Operations Directorate drilled rapid General Staff readiness forces deployment, by both air and land, assessing response time and execution reacting to an emerging incident in real-time,” the IDF said. Photos distributed by the IDF showed soldiers boarding a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. The military said it was ready to rapidly respond to different scenarios that might unfold. It also said the soldiers who participated in the drill would remain in the Golan.
In another move to bolster the IDF’s forces along the border, elements of the 98th Division, including the Paratrooper and Commando Brigades, were sent to the Golan. Israel has used the 98th Division to address emerging threats since Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023. The unit fought in Khan Younis and other areas in Gaza, moving quickly from place to place and adapting to different enemies and terrain. The IDF then sent the division to northern Israel in September to prepare for the ground offensive against Hezbollah that began on October 1.
The additional units in the Golan gave the IDF capabilities to respond to the crisis in Syria and various threats. For example, when armed men fired on a United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) post near the border on December 7, the IDF moved to assist the UN troops. UNDOF has been deployed along the border since 1974. “The IDF is currently assisting the UN forces in repelling the attack,” Israel’s military said on the afternoon of December 7.
As the Assad regime fell from power on December 8, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu journeyed to the Golan. “This is a historic day for the Middle East. The collapse of the Assad regime, the tyranny in Damascus, offers great opportunity but also is fraught with significant dangers,” Netanyahu said. He stated that the collapse of the regime was a “direct result of our forceful action against Hezbollah and Iran, Assad’s main supporters. It set off a chain reaction of all those who want to free themselves from this tyranny and its oppression.”
Netanyahu said that he had ordered the IDF to take over areas in the buffer zone that has existed since 1974. “This is a temporary defensive position until a suitable arrangement is found,” Netanyahu said. He also said Israel was extending a hand of peace to people in Syria. As the Syrian rebels consolidated control of Damascus and other areas on December 8, Israel made several other moves throughout the day, including sending forces to the top of Mount Hermon. Israel has controlled part of the mountain since 1967; now it controls the peak in Syria, according to reports.
In the valley below the mountain on the Israeli side of the Golan, the IDF also canceled in-school activities in four Druze towns. One of those towns, Majdal Shams, was the site of a missile attack by Hezbollah that killed 12 teens and children in July. The precautions were apparently taken out of concern for a similar incident.
