Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that his forces will remain in Syria indefinitely, after Israeli troops expanded their occupation beyond the Golan Heights. On Tuesday, Netanyahu and senior Israeli officials toured the peak of Syria’s Mount Hermon, which Israeli troops seized after the fall of the Assad regime. The mountain on the border of Lebanon and Syria extends into — and even beyond — a U.N.-designated demilitarized buffer zone. This comes amid growing international condemnation of Israel’s plans to build new settlements in Israeli-occupied parts of Syria, which are illegal under international law. Israeli military bulldozers have begun clearing land for new construction projects in the Golan Heights community of Majdal Shams, where Druze residents condemned the surge in planned settlements.

Shihadeh Nasrallah: “Regarding this Israeli occupation, it is not surprising, since Israel occupied Palestine and Sinai and occupied the Syrian Golan Heights and Lebanon, that it is currently starting a new occupation. Behind us, you can see the digging which the Israeli army is doing, which is against all international conventions.”