Israeli troops will remain on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon during the winter months

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has ordered the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to prepare to hold their positions on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights demilitarized zone during the winter months.

“Given what is happening in Syria, holding the summit of Mount Hermon is a security matter of great importance and everything must be done to ensure IDF preparations in the area to allow troops to remain there in the difficult weather conditions,” Katz told Israeli soldiers stationed in the area, according to a statement from his office.

Katz gave those instructions during a situation assessment yesterday with Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and other senior commanders.

The order says Israel must build "appropriate facilities" to maintain its military presence during the depths of winter, the document said.

Special troops from the Israel Defense Forces have been deployed to the demilitarized zone in the Golan Heights following the fall of the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad on Sunday at the hands of Islamist insurgents.

The deployment, which Israeli officials say is temporary, has been criticised by some Arab countries and the UN, whose secretary-general, António Guterres, argued on Monday that it constitutes a violation of the territorial agreement between Israel and Syria, which dates back to 1974.

Israel defends its decision to protect Israeli border communities in the face of instability in the neighbouring country.

In addition to their presence in the demilitarized zone, the Israel Defense Forces have bombed much of the ousted Assad's weapons in various parts of Syria in recent days, and claim to have destroyed around 80% of his strategic capabilities in order to prevent them from being used in the future by hostile forces.

The Golan Heights are a strategic plateau that, after suffering constant attacks by the Syrian army, Israel conquered during the Six-Day War in 1967 and formally annexed in 1981. This mountainous territory, measuring some 1.300 square kilometres, also shares a border with Jordan and Lebanon.

Agencies contributed to this Aurora article