Syria¡¯s leadership isn¡¯t the only aspect of the country to be changing as a result of this month¡¯s toppling of longtime dictator, Bashar Assad. The blurring of its borders is also underway ¡ª from Israel to the southwest and Turkey to the north.
Israel¡¯s military wasted no time advancing on Syria after Assad was overthrown by Islamist-led rebels two weeks ago, with troops moving eastward into a buffer zone established by a ceasefire between the two countries 50 years ago. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is wary of a new threat after more than a year fighting Iran-backed groups Hamas and Hezbollah in the region.
¡°Israel will not permit jihadi groups to fill that vacuum and threaten Israeli communities,¡± Netanyahu¡¯s office said last week. It described the deployment as temporary until a new Syrian administration ¡ª now led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, a former affiliate of al-Qaida ¡ª commits to the 1974 agreement.
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