Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Syrian border on Wednesday, where he released a statement on his commitment to defending Israel from border incursions and the defeat of Iran.
“We will not allow any terror army to establish itself on our border…. We are committed to defeating the terror regime in Iran – and we will do it,” the prime minister said, overlooking Syria from the top of Mount Hermon.
“On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, we are at the summit of the Hermon, the crown of the Hermon. Damascus is here, Lebanon is there, the Syrian Golan Heights is over there, and we control the entire area from the crown of the Hermon to the Yarmouk, and from here to the Mediterranean Sea – absolute control the likes of which have never been seen before,” Netanyahu said.
“We will not allow any terror army to establish itself on our border, and this is one of the monumental achievements we have secured in the War of Revival,” he added.
“From these peaks, there is still work to be done – the primary job is to defeat the terror regime in Iran. We are very close to it. We know that the entire axis will ultimately collapse,” he said, before wishing a “Happy New Year to the citizens of Israel and to our heroic soldiers who are doing the work here.”
Netanyahu was joined by Defense Minister Israel Katz and Deputy Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Tamir Yadai during his tour of the area, where he received an operational briefing from Northern Command Chief Maj.-Gen. Rafi Milo and 210th Division Commander Brig.-Gen. Yair Peli.
These comments by the prime minister come shortly after assessments by the Israeli establishment came out, saying that Iran is reportedly preparing for a broad, coordinated attack against Israel on several simultaneous fronts in a scenario resembling an October 7-style assault.
According to the assessments, Iran is seeking to combine its forces with Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank, the Houthis in Yemen, and pro-Iranian militias in Iraq in a single unified offensive.
At least 14 people were killed, and 11 were wounded in an explosion at a weapons depot on Wednesday near the Syrian city of Sarmada in Idlib, according to Syrian state television.
It is not yet clear what the cause of the explosion was.
Additionally, a Syrian civilian managed to reach the vicinity of an IDF post in the southern Golan Heights. He was detained and transferred for questioning.
Anna Barsky, Shir Perets, and Reuters contributed to this report.