Israel : Apna Punjab Media : The Israeli government on Sunday approved a plan to expand settlements on the occupied Golan Heights, saying it was acting “in light of the war and the new front facing Syria” as the country uses the power vacuum next door to consolidate security on its border and advance its aims of growing settlements. “Strengthening the Golan is strengthening the State of Israel, and it is especially important at this time. We will continue to hold onto it, cause it to blossom, and settle in it,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. Since Islamist rebels overthrew the decades-long Assad family regime on Dec. 8, Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes across Syria and carried out a land incursion that stretches past the occupied Golan Heights into a previously demilitarized buffer zone. The Israeli army swiftly took abandoned army positions, and air attacks have decimated most of Syria’s military capabilities.
Syria’s de facto new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, on Saturday denounced what he described as Israel’s “uncalculated military adventures” since his rebel group took power last week, but said he was more interested in state-building than opening another conflict. “Syria’s war-weary condition, after years of conflict and war, does not allow for new confrontations. The priority at this stage is reconstruction and stability, not being drawn into disputes that could lead to further destruction,” he said in an interview on Syria TV.