Israel wants to expand Jewish settlements in the occupied Golan Heights. The country's government has approved a plan in this regard.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that their move was urgent. Because a "new front" has opened on Israel's border with Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government to Islamist rebel groups.
Netanyahu also said that he wants to double Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights. Netanyahu said this in a statement on Sunday evening local time.
Israel took control of a large part of the Golan Heights after the Six-Day War in 1967. Israel's occupation is illegal under international law.
Assad fled Syria on December 8 in the face of a rebel offensive. After Assad fled, Israeli forces entered the buffer zone of the Golan Heights. This buffer zone separates the Golan Heights from Syria.
The Israeli army has argued that the change of control by Damascus means a "breakdown" of the ceasefire agreement.
On the one hand, Israeli forces are entering the neutral zone of the Golan Heights, while Netanyahu has said that his country is not interested in engaging in war with Syria.
Regarding Syria, Netanyahu said, "We will determine Israel's policy on Syria based on reality."
There are more than 30 Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights. Where about 20,000 people live. According to international law, the settlements are illegal. Although Israel has objections to this.
In the area of the Golan Heights where Israel is settling, about 20,000 Syrians live alongside Israelis. They are mainly Druze Arabs. When Israel occupied the area, the Druze Arabs did not leave their settlements.
Netanyahu said that Israel will retain control of the area, enrich it and stabilize it. However, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sees no need to expand Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights.
Olmert told the BBC, "The Prime Minister (Netanyahu) said that we are not interested in escalating the conflict with Syria and we hope that we will not have to fight the new rebels who have taken control of Syria. But why are we doing the opposite? We have enough problems that need to be solved."
Netanyahu's statement came days after the current Syrian leader, Ahmed al-Shara, strongly criticized Israel's ongoing attacks on his country's military installations.
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