Following the fall of the Assad regime on 8 December 2024, Israel invaded the demilitarized buffer zone in southwestern Syria (adjacent to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights) and has continued to occupy it. Israel also carried out an airstrike campaign to cripple the Syrian Armed Forces, and demanded that it stay out of southern Syria. The Israeli government remarked that these actions were intended to prevent any "potential threat" from post-war Syria.
Israel took advantage of the power vacuum created by the fall of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to increase the amount of territory it controlled by several hundred square miles. Israel declared the 1974 Agreement on Disengagement with Ba'athist Syria to be void. Israel initially said this new invasion would be "temporary", but later said it would hold onto the territory for an "unlimited time". Israel also launched extensive aerial and naval strikes on Syrian military targets across the country, under an operation codenamed Operation Arrow of Bashan (). Israel's campaign crippled Syria's military capabilities, including its army and its navy, and destroyed the Syrian chemical weapons stockpiles.
Israel's campaign in Syria was internationally condemned and was accused of violating international law. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa condemned Israel's actions and demanded withdrawal, but also said his country was not in a position to be drawn into another war following the 13-year Syrian civil war.
On 25 February 2025, Israel deepened its invasion of southern Syria while conducting a wave of airstrikes there and in Damascus, one day after demanding the Syrian caretaker government demilitarize southern Syria. Since the July 2025 Suwayda clashes, Israel has launched airstrikes against the Syrian military that it says are in defense of the Syrian Druze.
By December 2025, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data reported that since the invasion, Israel has carried out attacks across Syria more than 600 times, averaging nearly two times a day.
Background
Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel has occupied most of the Golan Heights region of Syria. After the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Israel and Syria agreed to a ceasefire which created the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which maintains a small buffer zone between the two countries forces. In 1981, Israel annexed the region, a move condemned by the United Nations and unrecognized by any country except the United States (recognized 2019). During its occupation, Israel has depopulated Syrian towns and villages and promoted Israeli settlement in the Heights.
In November 2024, the United Nations accused Israel of violating the 1974 Agreement on Disengagement in November with engineering work and battle tanks inside the demilitarized zone. UNDOF stated it had "repeatedly engaged with the IDF to protest the construction." Israel responded that it was "working to establish a barrier on Israeli territory exclusively in order to thwart a possible terrorist invasion and protect the security of Israel's borders," and that "Israeli and IDF officials maintain close contact with UN officials who are familiar with the threats in the region."
In December 2024, the Syrian opposition launched a major offensive against the Bashar al-Assad led Syrian regime. Following the fall of the Assad regime, Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli expressed apprehension at the opposition forces' political upheaval of the Syrian government, claiming that: "Most of Syria is now under the control of al-Qaeda and Daesh." He implored Israel to re-fortify its defensive line at Mount Hermon in Israeli-occupied Golan Heights based on 1974 borders in order to prevent potential attacks by the new regime.
The collective of Druze community leaders in Syria condemned the invasion. The newly formed Suwayda Military Council declared its commitment to integrating into the Syrian Army while also supporting the demilitarization of southern Syria. The Sheikh al-Karama Forces, a Druze military organization affiliated with the FSA condemned the invasion as a violation of Syria's sovereignty and stated they would work with opposition forces. Sheikh al-Karama Forces had issued a joint statement with the Al-Jabal Brigade in January 2025 emphasizing that it was prepared to integrate into a united "military body" in southern Syria.
Israeli objectives On 9 December 2024, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz issued orders for military objectives in southern Syria. The IDF received four primary strategic objectives from Katz to conduct "in the immediate term":
To secure complete control over the buffer zone and other nearby strategic positions in Syria. To establish a security zone extending beyond the buffer zone, focusing on removing all heavy weaponry and terrorist infrastructure that could pose a threat to Israel, while establishing contact with local Druze communities and other regional communities. To immediately prevent the reestablishment of Iranian arms smuggling routes to Lebanon through Syrian territory and border crossings. To continue destroying strategic heavy weapons systems throughout Syria, including air defense networks, missile systems, and coastal defense installations.
Israel has also stated its demands for all Syrian territory south of Damascus to be demilitarized, including the governorates of Quneitra, Daraa and Suwayda, and that it would not tolerate threats against the Druze in southern Syria.
Events Ground operations
Following the advance of the Syrian opposition in the south, Israel reinforced Division 210 and deployed additional troops to the Golan Heights. When Syrian opposition forces first occupied the southern town of Hader, it was reported that the IDF had advanced further into the Golan Heights to repel an attack on a United Nations post in the area. Additionally, the IDF significantly reinforced its presence within the established buffer zone.
2024 On 8 December 2024, Israeli armored units, including main battle tanks, crossed the ceasefire line in the occupied Golan Heights fence and entered the buffer zone during early morning operations. Israeli Army Radio stated that the IDF and Northern Command initiated the operation in order to strengthen its border with Syria and prevent spillover or attacks against Israel.
The military advance extended into the Quneitra Governorate, with substantial forces entering the town of Khan Arnabah. Syrian media reported that Israeli forces had advanced into the city center of al-Salam. Following the advance into the Quneitra Governorate and the Syrian-controlled side of Mount Hermon by the Israeli Special Forces Shaldag Unit (Unit 5101), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement saying that the 1974 ceasefire agreement had collapsed when Syrian soldiers abandoned their posts in the Golan Heights, and that the area was to be temporarily occupied He also stated that "We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border". Netanyahu stated Assad's fall "offers great opportunity" to occupy more Syrian territory. During the takeover, IDF spokesman Avichay Adraee announced a curfew in five Syrian villages, including Quneitra, ordering locals of the border towns to remain inside "until further notice." On 8 December 2024, Al Arabiya reported that Israel had taken control of Tell al-Hara. On 10 December 2024, correspondents for Al Jazeera and Enab Baladi reported Israeli tanks in several Syrian villages such as Beer Ajam. Although Israeli tanks were also reported as far as Qatana, from Damascus an IDF spokesman insisted that "IDF forces are not advancing towards Damascus. This is not something we are doing or pursuing in any way" while acknowledging that, beyond the buffer zone, "a few additional points" had been seized. The Israeli Defense Minister also stated that Israel aims to establish a "sterile defence zone" in southern Syria to "prevent the establishment and organisation of terror in Syria".
On 11 December, orthodox Chabad Jews printed the Tanya, a central Chabad religious text, from a light truck on Syrian land, at the base of Mount Hermon, a short distance to the east of the purple line.
On 12 December, Syrian residents of Hader, Hamidiya, and Umm Batna in Quneitra Governorate were displaced from their homes after the IDF entered with military vehicles, with Israeli troops subsequently probing Umm Batna in its entirety.
From 12 to 13 December, Syrian sources reported that Israeli forces conducted formal meetings with local community representatives in the Yarmouk Basin area in southwestern Daraa Governorate, reportedly using loudspeakers and a low-flying drone to broadcast messages urging meetings and requirements. The Israeli military reportedly articulated specific security requirements for the local population, including the surrender of all weapons in the village, compliance with home search operations, and the prohibition of armed resistance against any military operations. Syrian sources also claimed that Israeli troops used loudspeakers to warn villagers that the Israeli forces have intentions to search and confiscate weapons in the area.
On 15 December, Israel attempted to depopulate several Syrian villages in the newly occupied part of the Golan Heights. After the residents declined, Israel began destroying the electricity and water networks in the villages to attempt to forcibly evict them. The Israeli government also declared that it would expand Israel settlements in the Golan Heights. Netanyahu announced plans to double the Golan Heights' population in a statement on the same day, saying Israel would continue to hold onto it and that "Strengthening the Golan is strengthening the State of Israel."
On 17 December, Netanyahu met with Defense Minister Israel Katz, Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi, commander of the Northern Command Ori Gordin, and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, where they held a security briefing and visited outposts at the summit. During a video statement filmed on the summit, Netanyahu said that the IDF would stay in Syria "until another solution ensuring Israel's security is found".
On 18 December, it was reported that over 100 Syrian families had been forcibly expelled from the Golan Heights by the Israeli military. Witnesses describe that Israeli soldiers had opened fire on them and on their homes. The United Nations peacekeepers have been removing Israeli flags in the newly occupied area.
On 19 December, it was reported that the Israeli military is preventing Syrian farmers in Ma'ariya from accessing their fields.
On 20 December, the Israeli military occupied two addition Syrian villages, Jamlah and Maaraba, and then shot bullets at Syrians protesting the Israeli occupation.
On 25 December, the Israeli military shot at protesters in the Syrian villages of Suweisa and Diwaya Al-Kabira in the Quneitra Governorate.
On 30 December, Israeli forces advanced into Madinat al-Baath and searched the local administrative offices. On the same day, Israeli military lecturer Rami Simani stated that Syria has "never had a real right to exist" and that "Israel can and must cause Syria to disappear", advocating a partition of Syria.
2025 On 9 January, Israeli officials said that they are going to occupy for "the long run" a 15 km "zone of control" and 60 km "sphere of influence" deeper into Syria.
On 31 January, Israeli troops clashed with five pro-Assad Syrian rebels in Trinjeh. The Jerusalem Post reported that the Islamic Resistance Front in Syria was responsible for the attack, but the Syrian Popular Resistance claimed responsibility, claiming that multiple Israeli soldiers were wounded and vehicles were damaged. The IDF said that it suffered no casualties.