Israel will continue to seize the moment
Mount Hermon, located only 44 km (around 27 miles) from the city center of Damascus and bordering Syria, Lebanon, and the Golan Heights, is strategically important for the IDF.
Why IDF will keep on striking in the first quarter of 2025 and the critical role of having a foothold in Syria
Three months ago, I stated in a video post that after Israel has eliminated the Hezbollah leadership and intelligence as well as destroyed missile depots and installations, Israel has a window of opportunity and that it will use it going forward. And it did also when presented with another opening:
After the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in December 2024, Israel launched several military operations in Syria, mainly to set the borders, eliminate Syrian military assets that could pose a threat to Israel's security, and interrupt supply chains to Hezbollah and so far, weaken Iran further.
Destruction of Syrian Military Capabilities - Results
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) performed over 350 strikes with fighter jets in 48 hours alone. Israeli Navy missile ships attacked Al-Bayda port and the Latakia port, where 15 Syrian naval vessels were docked and destroyed sea-to-sea missiles with ranges of 80–190 kilometers.
Israel Defense Forces also struck anti-aircraft batteries, airforce airfields, and weapons production sites in Damascus, Homs, Tartus, Latakia, and Palmyra, according to an IDF release.
During the attacks, numerous strategic weapons were also neutralized, including Scud missiles, cruise missiles, surface-to-sea, surface-to-air, surface-to-surface missiles, UAVs, fighter jets, attack helicopters, radars, tanks, and hangars.
Securing a Strategically Important Location: Mount Hermon
Israeli ground forces have also made incursions into Syrian territory, seized control of the buffer zone established by the 1974 Disengagement Agreement, and occupied strategic positions on Mount Hermon, a strategic decision for securing and monitoring the area.
Mount Hermon, a popular skiing and hiking destination in the region, is a mountain cluster of three main summits. The highest point being at 2814 meters elevation (9232 feet). The mountain is strategically important because it is located only around 44 km (around 27 miles) from the city center of Damascus. And it marks a triple border between Lebanon, Syria, and the Golan Heights: The western slopes of Mount Hermon are in Lebanese territory, the eastern slopes and the highest summit are in Syria, and the southern slopes extend into the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights.
Military and Intelligence Use
The high vantage point is ideal for intelligence gathering and surveillance to monitor movement in and out of Damascus, southwestern Syria, and parts of Lebanon. Israel's troops staying over the winter on Mount Hermon signals further that Israel's presence in Syria is set to continue for a prolonged period.
Strategic Goals
Israel's actions were to ensure that no threats emerged in the unstable power vacuum that was created after Assad's fall.
Rolling back the Iranian power and the supply chain of weapons to Hezbollah was another goal. The IDF intended to interdict the flow of strategic weapons to Hezbollah and to reduce the footprint of Iran in Syria.
What is Next
Israel will further use these windows of opportunity to fight Iran and its proxies and throw Iran's defense capabilities back years. Another reason Israel will continue with its attacks is that Iran's diminishing influence creates power vacuums in the region that create instabilities since terrorists, criminal groups, and other parties whose actions are even less predictable than Iran's will use this vacuum.
Especially now, with Iran and its proxies being weakened again and again, Israel will very likely keep pushing harder in the first quarter of 2025 to use its technological and defense superiority to help change power dynamics in the Middle East to become a more secure and reliable region for Israel, its partners, and consequently other countries directly and indirectly neighboring Iran.
