Israel mentioned on Tuesday it could not retreat from positions on the Syrian facet of Mount Hermon and in different areas throughout the border, amid studies of superior talks between Jerusalem and Damascus on reaching safety preparations alongside the delicate frontier.
The feedback from Protection Minister Israel Katz got here a day after Syria condemned what it mentioned was a “harmful escalation” by dozens of Israeli troops who allegedly carried out an incursion east of the Mount Hermon foothills.
Syrian media reported recent violence on Tuesday morning as Israel allegedly shelled a house within the village of Tranjah, north of Quneitra close to the border with the Golan Heights.
Studies mentioned one individual was killed within the assault on a house within the village, describing the fatality as a “younger man,” indicating he was not a member of Syria’s safety forces. Photos confirmed harm to a part of the second ground of what gave the impression to be an unoccupied dwelling.
There was no remark from the Israel Protection Forces on the alleged strike.
Writing on X, Katz mentioned “the IDF will stay on the summit of [Mount] Hermon and within the safety zone that’s very important to defending communities within the Golan and Galilee from threats emanating from the Syrian facet.”
Protection Minister Israel Katz speaks to reporters on the website of an Iranian missile affect in Holon, June 19, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Israel’s want to keep up a presence there’s a “central lesson from the occasions of October 7,” mentioned the minister, who has beforehand vowed to maintain troops atop Mount Hermon indefinitely.
1000’s of Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, catching the navy off guard as they rampaged via communities close to the Gaza border. Some 1,200 folks, largely civilians, had been killed within the assaults, whereas 251 had been kidnapped into Gaza.
In accordance with Israel, an identical invasion of the Galilee from Lebanon had been deliberate by the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group.
Katz added that Israel would additionally proceed to defend the Druze neighborhood in Syria.
Israeli troops captured the Syrian peak of Mount Hermon following the autumn of former dictator Bashar al-Assad late final yr and have remained there since. Troopers have additionally been deployed to a number of posts simply inside southern Syria, largely inside a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the border between the nations.
Israeli troopers on the Syrian facet of Mount Hermon, August 12, 2025. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)
Troops have been working in areas as much as round 15 kilometers (some 9 miles) deep into Syria, aiming to seize weapons that Israel says might pose a menace to the nation in the event that they fall into the fingers of hostile forces.
Whereas aligned towards Hezbollah and different Iran-backed teams that threatened Israel’s north beneath Assad, Jerusalem has expressed mistrust relating to Syria’s new authorities, which is led by former jihadists. Nonetheless, it has engaged in US-brokered talks geared toward reaching understandings with Damascus and de-escalating potential conflicts, which some consider might pave the way in which for broader normalization talks.
On Monday, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa informed Arab journalists that his authorities was in “superior” negotiations with Israel on a safety settlement. He informed Sky Information Arabic that any deal can be based mostly on ceasefire traces which have shaped the de facto border between the nations since 1974.
Sharaa later mentioned developments in Syria and the area with US Particular Envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack in Damascus. On Sunday, Barrack was in Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Syria and Lebanon.
On this photograph launched by the Syrian official information company SANA, US Particular Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack, middle, meets with Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, left, in Damascus, Syria, Monday, August 25, 2025. (SANA through AP)
Barrack informed US information outlet Axios that Israel and Syria “have mutual intent and want however for the time being, there’s nonetheless extra work to do” on a safety settlement.
“Constructive dialogue between these nation states is the on ramp to a long-lasting understanding that would be the preface to stability and prosperity within the area,” he added.
Earlier within the day, Syria’s Overseas Ministry condemned what it alleged was an try by Israel to develop its sphere of management round Mount Hermon, saying 60 troops had deployed on a strategic hilltop that overlooks Beit Jinn. Residents claimed Israel arrested six Syrians.
Troops of the Alexandroni Brigade function within the Syrian village of Beit Jinn early June 12, 2025. (Israel Protection Forces)
An Israeli navy spokesperson mentioned troops carried out routine operational exercise in an space of southern Syria however didn’t function in Beit Jinn, an space some 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) east of the border with Israel, the place troops have carried out raids prior to now.
The Israeli navy mentioned they made no arrests throughout their exercise in southern Syria however they detained one individual for questioning after some suspects had been noticed approaching the world in a way the navy deemed as a menace to the troops.
“This harmful escalation is taken into account a direct menace to regional peace and safety,” the Overseas Ministry mentioned in an announcement.
The US has been working to calm tensions between Israel and Syria because the IDF intervened on behalf of Syria’s Druze neighborhood final month, bombing Damascus’s Protection Ministry headquarters and placing regime forces that Israel mentioned had been poised to hold out mass killings within the Druze city of Sweida.
Folks cross in entrance the Syrian Protection Ministry constructing which was closely broken by Israeli airstrikes in Damascus, Syria, July 17, 2025. (AP/Ghaith Alsayed)
In accordance with Channel 12 information, a deal between Jerusalem and Damascus might see Syria’s facet of the Golan Heights demilitarized, with the Syrian military blocked from working in delicate areas. Israel additionally needs strategic weapons barred from getting into Syria and the institution of a humanitarian hall to Druze areas of southern Syria. In return, Syria would obtain reconstruction help from the US and Gulf states.
The humanitarian hall was mentioned final week in trilateral talks between Barrack, Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Syrian Overseas Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, Axios reported Monday.
