Netanyahu climbs Mount Hermon as Damascus asks the UN to restore the 1974 line

Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israeli military positions on the Mount Hermon summit inside Syria on Wednesday 9 September, accompanied by Defence Minister Israel Katz and Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai, and was briefed by Northern Command chief Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo and 210th Division commander Brig. Gen. Yair Falai. “On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, we are atop Mt. Hermon. Damascus is right here, Lebanon is right there, the Syrian Golan Heights are right there,” he said, per SyriacPress and JNS. “We will not allow any terrorist army to establish itself on our border, and this is one of the tremendous achievements we have attained in the War of Redemption.” JNS carries a longer version tying the moment to Iran: “We know that the entire axis will ultimately fall.” The trip was not a first. Katz stood on the same summit on 25 August and said Israeli forces would remain “as long as threats to Israel persist,” telling troops the military “will not move from here,” according to Enab Baladi.

Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemned “in the strongest terms the illegal entry” of Netanyahu into Syrian territory, calling it a provocative step and a “flagrant violation” of sovereignty, territorial integrity and international law, as reported by The Media Line. Per SyriacPress, the ministry described continued Israeli incursions as “a dangerous escalation that threatens security and stability in the region,” held Israel “fully responsible for the repercussions,” and called on the UN, international organisations and “influential countries” to secure a return to the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement. JNS reports the same two asks: end the operations, restore 1974. The demand is consistent with what Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani told AFP on 1 September — that Damascus was pursuing a diplomatic solution with Israel under US mediation “despite ongoing Israeli attacks.” AFP characterised Israeli strikes on Syria since December 2024 as numbering in the hundreds; that is a wire description, not a counted dataset.

Assessment: Two clocks are running at different speeds. Damascus is asking for a 1974 line drawn by the government it overthrew — an implicit offer to accept the pre-war status quo in exchange for an end to strikes. Israel is answering with photographs. Note what the Israeli position is not: it is not a claim of temporary defensive necessity, but a declaration that the positions are an achievement to be kept. Read every Israeli move in Syria against 27 October, the Israeli election date US envoy Tom Barrack invoked when he said Washington found no evidence for Israel’s stated justification for the August Abu al-Duhur strikes. One claim to hold loosely: the “absolute dominance” formulation is carried by SyriacPress alone.