Israeli vehicles at the border between Israel and Syria yesterday.Credit…Atef Safadi/EPA, via Shutterstock
Israel said it will stay in claimed Syrian territory
As countries in the Middle East and beyond worked out how to respond to the fall of the Assad government, Israel said that its military would stay in Syrian territory it had seized until “a new force” was established that met its security demands. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli soldiers would deploy “temporarily,” but he did not give a timeline for their departure.
The Israeli military has mostly deployed in a 155-square-mile zone that was intended to be a demilitarized area monitored by U.N. peacekeepers. But soldiers have also taken up positions deeper inside Syrian territory, according to Israeli officials. Any deal between Israel and the Islamist rebels who led the offensive in Syria appears distant, given their mutual animosity.
Other developments:
U.S. diplomacy: Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Jordan yesterday before leaving for Turkey, where he will meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Missing American: A foreign man who had been imprisoned under the Assad government appears to have been found.
Seeking justice: The fall of Syria’s government has reinvigorated a long push for justice over crimes committed by the Assad regime, but there is frustration that former President Bashar al-Assad may not stand trial.
Mood in Aleppo: In the northern Syrian city, exiled residents celebrated as they returned home.
