Israel intends to maintain military control over the captured territories in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria, reports Tengrinews.kz with reference to Deutsche Welle.

The troops will stay in the occupied “security zones” and serve as a buffer between hostile militants and Israel – “in any temporary or permanent reality” in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on 16 April. He noted that this also applied to Israeli-occupied parts in Lebanon and Syria.

Unlike in the past, the army will no longer withdraw fr om captured territories, Katz said of the Gaza Strip, wh ere Israeli troops have been fighting against Hamas for a year and a half in an effort to destroy it.

In Lebanon, the Israeli army still occupies five strategic points near the border. Until recently, the Israeli military spoke of a “temporary measure,” but Katz has now said Israel will “remain in a buffer zone in Lebanon in five strongholds.”

Since the overthrow of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, Israel has also put troops into the Syrian part of the zone adjacent to the annexed Golan Heights, an area controlled by the UN. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also called it a “temporary measure” at first.