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Exploiting disarray in Syria, Israel grabs more of the Golan Heights
The incursions are neither justified nor necessary.
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Israeli troops at the border with Syria near the Druze village of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, on Dec 9.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
The Economist
The row of square grey forts slung across the horizon is a reminder of the days when Israel prepared for an onslaught by Syrian armoured divisions from the Golan Heights. That last happened in the Yom Kippur War, in 1973, when the Syrian army almost broke through. That army was once one of the most powerful in the Middle East. Yet it has been many years since it was that formidable.
On Dec 7, what was left of the Syrian units that had manned the ceasefire lines for half a century just melted away. In their place arrived a ragtag group of local rebel groups, which put up no resistance the next day when Israeli tanks advanced, taking up positions in what had been a buffer zone. A team of Israeli commandos captured the empty Syrian observation post on Jabal al-Shaykh, which, at 2,814m, is the highest peak of the Hermon range.
