IDF troops operating outside of buffer zone receive confiscated chemical weapons from Syrian rebel groups in Golan

DM Katz orders IDF to prepare for extended stay in Golan until new regime is stabilized

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The IDF continues operations in the Syrian buffer zone as Israel waits to see how the situation in Syria develops.

According to a recent N12 News report, those who are living in villages along the buffer zone transferred many weapons from the former Syrian regime to the IDF at the beginning of the week.

The report said that hundreds of boxes of ammunition, mortars, bombs, grenades, and weapons of various types were transferred to the Israeli security forces by the rebels and residents of the villages in the Syrian Golan.

The report claimed that the presence of the weapons was one of the reasons why the IDF took control of strategic points along the border with Syria in the buffer zone.

Notably, IDF troops moved beyond the buffer zone to meet with local residents. Several reports in both Arabic and Hebrew media have indicated IDF operations in towns outside the buffer zone since its capture.

While the IDF has denied reports that its soldiers are occupying territory outside the buffer zone, it appears to be attempting to coordinate security matters with the local village leaders in the towns along the border.

IDF soldiers told N12 said the confiscated weapons even included some chemical weapons.

“You can see cheap grenades that have been filled with a chemical, and you have to add a mechanism to them in order to activate them,” one of the soldiers told the news site. “There are boxes full of hand grenades with chemical substances, which create irritation, and you should not come into direct contact with them.”

Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces had used some of the chemical weapons against rebel groups. Now, those rebel groups in the Syrian Golan have begun transferring the weapons to Israel.

Syrian media also reported IDF troops operating inside Syrian territory. The Syrian news site Daraa 24, reported soldiers entering the village of Ma’ariya, a few hundred meters east of the buffer zone, questioning locals in the region.

The site also reported Israeli Merkava tanks in the town of Saidah.

#عاجل: مراسل درعا 24: دبابات إسـ.ـرائيلـ.ـية تتوغل في قرية صيدا الجولان على الحدود الإدارية بين محافظتي درعا والقنيطرة. #صيداالجولان #إسرائيل #توغل #درعا24 pic.twitter.com/5sVFwuKXOe
— Daraa 24 - 24 درعا (@Daraa2424) December 17, 2024

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) also reported the presence of IDF tanks in Saidah.

"Israeli forces searched a military barracks of the former regime forces in the vicinity of the village of al-Muqrez, near the village of Saidah al-Golan, in search of weapons and ammunition."

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the IDF to prepare for an extended stay in the Syrian Golan buffer zone. He said Israeli forces would remain there until the new regime has stabilized.

The defense establishment is cooperating with residents of the Syrian Golan villages to prevent the entry of hostile elements. The IDF has maintained some level of dialogue and cooperation with residents in the area since "Operation Good Neighbor" in 2016, when the IDF helped evacuate wounded or sick Syrians for medical treatment in Israel.