US says every country has right to defend its borders after Israel's seizure of Golan buffer zone

By Rabia Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US on Monday defended Israel's seizure of the demilitarized buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights, saying that every country has the right to take action against terrorist groups to defend its borders.

"This is a temporary action that they have taken in response to actions by the Syrian military to withdraw from that area," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

"Every country has the right to take action against terrorist organizations, and every country, I think, would be worried about a possible (power) vacuum that could be filled by terrorist organizations on its border, especially in volatile times, as we obviously are in right now in Syria," he said.

However, Miller added that these actions are not "permanent.”

"Ultimately, what we want to see is lasting stability between Israel and Syria, and that means we support all sides upholding the 1974 disengagement agreement," he added, referring to an Israeli-Syrian pact.

When pressed on how Israelis described "temporary,” Miller declined to talk more about what he called "diplomatic conversations.”

When asked by Anadolu about regional countries’ concerns about a regional escalation due to Israel's actions in Syria, Miller said the US believes it is in the interests of all the countries in the region, including Israel, that there is stability in Syria and Lebanon.

"That will help produce stability in the broader region. And that is what we are trying to accomplish, and what we try to encourage all these parties when discussing their actions," he continued.

On Sunday, the Israeli army imposed “closed military zones” in Syria’s occupied Golan Heights following the sudden fall of the Assad regime.

In response to military concerns about the potential infiltration of armed groups, the Israeli army deployed additional forces along the buffer zone separating Syria and the occupied Golan Heights.

Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Sunday, signaling the collapse of the Baath Party regime, which had been in power in Syria since 1963.

This followed the seizure of Aleppo, a major northern Syrian city, by anti-regime groups nearly a week earlier.