Damascus condemns Israel Katz after visit with IDF soldiers on Mount Hermon

Katz's visit follows an IDF strike in Syria near Damascus on Saturday, which itself followed a larger strike on a military airfield on August 18.

The Syrian government condemned Defense Minister Israel Katz's visit to Mount Hermon on Tuesday, Syria's Foreign Affairs Ministry said in an X/Twitter post, calling the action "illegal."

"The Foreign Affairs Ministry stresses that these hostile practices constitute a blatant provocation and a clear violation of international law and the United Nations Charter, as well as a breach of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement, which requires respect for the ceasefire lines and not crossing them," the ministry's statement read.

The ministry called upon the international community to pressure Israel into stopping its "repeated violations," withdrawing from the territory, and "respecting the sovereignty and territorial unity of the Syria."

Katz met with IDF soldiers based on Mount Hermon during his visit earlier on Tuesday, telling them that Israel "will not move from Mount Hermon and the security zone as long as there are jihadist threats to the State of Israel," according to i24 News.

"The message to the Syrian president is clear," said Katz. "When you wake up in the morning in the palace in Damascus and look up at Mount Hermon and see the IDF, you know that we are here to protect our communities and our border."

Katz emphasized the strategic significance of the territory, noting the vantage point it provides to the IDF along several fronts.

"[It overlooks] Damascus from above, 35 kilometers away, overlooking the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold from above," he was cited by i24 as saying.

IDF strikes Syrian terrorist near Damascus, military airfield in Idlib

Katz's visit follows an IDF strike in Syria near Damascus on Saturday against a terrorist in the “final stages” of preparing a terror attack against Israeli soldiers, the military said at the time.

A more significant IDF strike occured on August 18 against the Abu al-Duhur military airfield in Idlib province in northwestern Syria, with experts telling The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that the strike sought to avoid a direct clash with Turkey amid a buildup of Turkish forces in the area.