Q. The fate of the Gaza occupation is obviously the most pressing issue. But perhaps you can start by discussing the most recent Arab land occupied: the Israel-Syria border no-man’s land and the Mt. Hermon peak. A. Occupation in Syria is not only the most recent but also the most complicated issue internationally. Turkey (in the northwest) and the US (in the east) also occupy Syrian lands--far more than does Israel. Nowhere are there clear guidelines or conditions for ending any of these occupations. Israel, for its part, insists that the relatively small parcel of border area no-man’s-land that it occupied after the fall of Bashar Assad in December of 2024 will be abandoned when Jerusalem is convinced that the new regime in Damascus can ensure stability and that it harbors no threatening Islamic extremist intentions. Meanwhile IDF units in the new Syria buffer zone are providing medical aid to Syrians--but also clashing with anti-Israel demonstrators. Israel’s suspicions are understandable, for three reasons. First, Syria has not yet been stabilized. Regime forces are fighting Alawite supporters of Assad in Homs and along the Mediterranean coast. Alawite sources cite growing unrest among this religious minority that previously anchored the Assad regime. There is also unrest among Druze in and around Suwayda near the Syria-Jordan border. Not to mention unresolved Kurdish-Arab-Turkish issues in a huge swath of territory in Syria’s northeast. Second, Syria’s new rulers previously fought in the ranks of al-Qaeda and ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Today they claim to be more moderate and pluralistic. They say they do not seek conflict with Israel. Having fought militant extremists for the past 16 months, Israel is not yet convinced it can abandon its new buffer zone. Third, the Turkish factor. Turkish leader Recip Tayyip Erdogan, who supported and sheltered the new Syrian leaders for years in their northwest Syria redoubt, is widely seen as the patron of the new Syrian regime. His aggressive anti-Israel rhetoric gives Jerusalem cause for concern. The previous Syrian regime, under Assad, hosted Iranian forces that used Syria as a transit point for moving weaponry to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Now Israel harbors similar fears regarding Erdogan with his neo-Ottoman geostrategic ambitions. One way or another, the presence in Syria of both Turkish and American armed forces is seen by Israel as a mitigating factor in its occupation considerations. And speaking of occupation, there are reports that the Shiite-majority government in neighboring Iraq has asked Washington not to withdraw its 2,000-strong armed contingent from eastern Syria, alleging that it buffers Iraq against any possible aggressive intentions on those now ruling Damascus. | 
