![Israel's newly appointed armed forces chief, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir (C), visits the Western Wall in the old city of Jerusalem on March 5, 2025. [Menahem KAHANA / AFP / Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/GettyImages-2202834520.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Israel’s new army Chief of Staff, General Eyal Zamir, conducted a field tour on Sunday deep within what Tel Aviv calls the “security zone” inside occupied Syrian territory. The army said that Zamir carried out a “situational assessment” during his tour.
Zamir was accompanied by the head of the occupation army’s Northern Command, Major General Uri Gordin and the head of Division 210, Brigadier General Yair Falai, as well as other senior officers.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz have said repeatedly that the occupation regime will remain inside what it calls the “security zone” inside Syrian territory for an indefinite period.
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In the 1967 June War, Israel occupied most of the Golan Heights in south-west Syria, including parts of Mount Hermon, and then announced its annexation in 1981. This illegal move has never been recognised by the UN.
Immediately after the overthrow of the Assad regime on 8 December, 2024, Israel took advantage of the confusion and occupied the demilitarised buffer zone in the Golan Heights and the strategic Mount Hermon area and announced the end of the 1974 separation of forces agreement with Syria, amid widespread Syrian, Arab and international objections. The Zionist state also launched hundreds of air strikes, destroying warplanes, various missiles and air defence systems in numerous military sites across Syria.
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