Syria's transitional government on Sept. 9 accused Israel's prime minister NETANYAHU of illegally entering Syrian territory, saying the visit violated Syrian sovereignty and threatened regional stability. Speaking from Mount Hermon in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, NETANYAHU said the Israeli military had achieved "absolute control" over large areas of southern Syria and did not say Israel was "close to defeating Iran." Defence Minister Katz said Israel would not withdraw from Syria. Israel

Syria's transitional government on Sept. 9 accused Israel's prime minister NETANYAHU of illegally entering Syrian territory, saying the visit violated Syrian sovereignty and threatened regional stability. Speaking from Mount Hermon in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, NETANYAHU said the Israeli military had achieved "absolute control" over large areas of southern Syria and did not say Israel was "close to defeating Iran." Defence Minister Katz said Israel would not withdraw from Syria. Israel seized most of the Golan Heights in the 1967 war and has long refused to return it; after Syria's December 2024 political upheaval Israel occupied the Golan buffer zone and Mount Hermon and has continued strikes inside Syria.