Israel claims control of Golan Heights buffer zone amid unrest in Syria

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israeli forces have seized a buffer zone in the Golan Heights established by a 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria. He spoke from an overlook near the border between Syria and the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, after Syrian rebels tore through the country and dramatically ended Assad’s rule on Sunday morning.

Netanyahu said the 50-year-old agreement had collapsed and that Syrian troops had abandoned their positions, necessitating the Israeli takeover as a “temporary defensive position.”

Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it. The international community, except for the United States, views it as occupied Syrian territory.