'Al-Sharaa’s grip is weak': IDF doubts Syria’s control as Golan buffer zone expands

Six months after entering the Syrian Golan without resistance, Israeli troops face a divided landscape—stability in the north under Ahmad al-Sharaa, volatility in the south, and uncertainty over who truly controls the fractured country next door. An Israeli paratrooper from the 202nd Battalion swings open the yellow gate at the Quneitra crossing, the only passage point between Israel and Syria. He steps forward without a helmet—a sign of the relatively low threat level. Eight yards ahead, a fellow soldier opens the inner gray gate with the press of a button. 

 
Once a symbol of Syrian sovereignty, the crossing has faded. The Syrian flag that flew above the checkpoint just months ago is now tattered, and a portrait of Hafez al-Assad—the late president who negotiated a 1974 ceasefire with Israel—lies in fragments across the abandoned border post. Roughly 50 miles east, Israeli helicopters recently delivered supplies to Druze communities in As-Suwayda, and more than 20 wounded Druze have crossed into Israel for treatment. 

But at the border, the gunfire remains distant for now. Six months after Israeli forces entered the Syrian side of the Golan Heights without a fight, the Israel Defense Forces has tripled its deployment in the area. After an initial period of calm, two diverging realities have taken shape.  (Read more)