JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel for almost 60 years, would remain Israeli "for eternity".
Speaking at a press conference in Jerusalem, Netanyahu thanked US President-elect Donald Trump for recognising Israel's 1981 annexation of the territory during his first term and said "the Golan will be part of the State of Israel for eternity."
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Monday that his country's military takeover of the buffer zone along its border with Syria was a temporary move, after Islamist-led rebels took control in Syria.
"This is a limited and temporary step we took for security reasons," Saar said in a press conference at the foreign ministry in Jerusalem.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that he had ordered the army to "take control" of the zone -- on the east of the Israeli-annexed Golan -- after the fall of Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad the same day.
Saar and an Israeli government spokesman both confirmed that Israeli troops had moved beyond the demarcated buffer zone onto the slopes of Mount Hermon.
Israeli troops that have moved into the buffer zone on the edge of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights "constitute a violation" of the 1974 disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria, a UN spokesman said Monday.
The UN peacekeeping force deployed in the Golan Heights, known as UNDOF, "informed the Israeli counterparts that these actions would constitute a violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
He said that the Israeli forces that entered the zone were still present in at least three locations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday he had ordered the army to "seize" the demilitarized zone in the Syrian-controlled part of the Golan Heights after rebels swept Syrian president Bashar al-Assad from power.
Most of the Golan Heights plateau has been occupied since 1967 by Israel, which later annexed it in a move not recognized by most of the international community.
In 1974 a buffer zone was established to separate the Israeli-held and Syrian territories, with UN peacekeepers stationed there.
Amid the downfall of Assad, Israel announced a troop deployment to the Golan Heights citing "the possible entry of armed individuals into the buffer zone."
Israeli forces "will continue to operate as long as necessary in order to preserve the buffer zone and defend Israel," it added.
Israeli troops "have entered the area of separation and have been moving within that area where they remain in at least three locations throughout the area of separation," Dujarric said.
"There should be no military forces or activities in the area of separation. And Israel and Syria must continue to uphold the terms of that 1974 agreement, and preserve stability in the Golan," he said.