Benjamin Netanyahu visits Israeli troops in Syria across the demarcation line

Syria condemned the Israeli Prime Minister’s visit as a “violation” of its sovereignty, and the UN described it as “alarming”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited his army troops deployed in Syria along with other officials on Wednesday, November 19, on the other side of the demarcation line between the two countries which are still at war, the Israeli government announced. Benjamin Netanyahu visits military post before holding meeting “safety meeting”and answered questions from soldiers, according to a press release accompanied by photos of the visit.

After the overthrow of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Israel sent troops to the UN-patrolled demilitarized zone in the Syrian Golan Heights, saying it had no confidence in the new strongman in Damascus, former jihadist Ahmad al-Chareh. The demilitarized zone separates the part of the Syrian Golan occupied by Israel since 1967, which was unilaterally annexed under a 1981 Israeli law deemed null and void by the UN, from the rest of Syria.

This comes a week after Ahmad al-Chareh was received in Washington by Donald Trump. The American president wants to see Syria integrate the so-called Abraham Accords, which aim to normalize Israel’s relations with Arab countries. But the Syrian leader said there was no rush on the issue, and Israel’s occupation of the Golan was an obstacle to that prospect.

Then on Wednesday, Syria was condemned as a “violate” sovereignty over the visit of the Israeli Prime Minister. “These visits, so common, are worrying to say the least”UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also reacted through his spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric.