Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz responded to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s assertion that the Golan Heights are Syrian territory, saying the strategic plateau in northeastern Syria is an “integral and eternal part of Israel.”
Katz said, according to The Times of Israel on Wednesday, September 23, that the Israeli army would not withdraw from Mount Hermon or the security zone it controls in Syria, citing what he described as a “jihadist threat” to the border and Israeli communities.
He added that Israel would not withdraw from Mount Hermon or the security zone, noting that the area had been subject to the 1974 Disengagement Agreement, which followed the 1973 war.
Katz accused Syria of having become, over the past several years, “an Iranian base and a threat to Israel and its borders,” arguing that the conditions underpinning the Disengagement Agreement had been “violated.”
He said Israel would remain on Mount Hermon and in the security zone as long as there was a jihadist threat to the border and Israeli communities, whether from Syrian security forces or “other jihadist organizations and groups in Syria,” as he put it.
Katz also threatened that if Israel were attacked from Syrian territory, any territory Israel seized in such a situation “would remain its forever,” based on what he said were the “laws of war.”
The Israeli defense minister concluded by saying that Israel would not allow Syria to become a threat to Israel and would act as necessary to prevent that.
Sharaa: Golan Is Syrian Territory
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said in his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, September 23, that the Golan Heights “will remain Syrian territory,” describing all Israeli annexation measures as “null and void” under UN Security Council Resolution 497.
Sharaa said Syria’s national principles were becoming more firmly established through law and the will of the people, stressing that attempts to impose a new reality on the ground could not undermine the legitimacy of the Syrian state.
Sharaa accused Israel of continuing its attacks on Syria, citing nearly 500 air and artillery strikes, more than 1,200 incursions, and around 300 cases of arrest and detention of Syrians. He said these practices threaten Syria’s stability and run counter to the direction of the international community, using the term “deviance” to describe Israeli conduct.
The Syrian president reiterated Damascus’ commitment to the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and called for Israeli forces to withdraw from the territories they entered to the lines of December 8, 2024, reaffirming Syria’s rejection of Israeli control over the Golan Heights and other Syrian territories entered by Israeli forces.
From Recovery to the Golan: Al-Sharaa’s Key Messages at the UN
267 Violations in August
Sijil Center, which specializes in documenting Israeli violations in Syria, documented 267 violations committed by Israeli forces inside Syrian territory during August.
The center’s statistics showed that Israeli violations in August increased by 43% compared with July, when 187 violations were recorded, and rose by about 12% compared with June, which recorded 239 violations.
According to Sijil Center, August recorded the second-highest monthly number of Israeli violations since the beginning of 2026, after March, when 321 violations were documented. The August figure also exceeded the 254 violations recorded in April.
The center’s data showed that Israeli forces committed 1,752 violations inside Syria from the beginning of 2026 through the end of August.
Sijil Center also documented 16 shelling incidents during August. One targeted Abu al-Duhur Airport, while another targeted a civilian vehicle in the village of Beit Jinn (western Rural Damascus), causing one injury.
Israeli forces also targeted agricultural land, hills, and open areas in the countryside of Quneitra and Daraa using artillery, mortar shells, and drones.