Cleared for publication: IDF destroyed Syrian border outpost in daring 2020 operation

• Author: David Rosenberg
• Published date: 05 April 2021
• Publication title: Israel National News (Israel)

Israeli military censors cleared the incident for publication Sunday, revealing the operation to the public for the first time.

In July 2020, soldiers from the IDF's Golani Brigade crossed into Syrian territory under cover of night, in what is the first Israeli incursion into Syria in years.

The operation targeted a Syrian army outpost which was constructed in March 2020 in the buffer zone which spans the Israeli-Syrian border. The outpost was built 1,200 meters (0.75 miles) from the Israeli border, and was viewed by the IDF as not only a provocation by Syria, but a serious threat to the safety of Israeli forces near the border.

The buffer zone, which was established after the 1973 Yom Kippur War, is required by the ceasefire agreement to be kept free of military outposts. By establishing a fixed military presence in the buffer zone, the Syrian army violated the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement with Israel...