Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the collapse of Assad’s regime in Syria was a “direct result” of Israel’s military campaign against Iran and its proxy, Hezbollah, in Lebanon.

“Together with the Defense Minister, and with full backing from the Cabinet, I directed the IDF yesterday to take control of the buffer zone and the dominant positions near it,” he said in the Golan Heights. “We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border.”

The Israel Defense Forces announced Sunday that they had “deployed forces in the buffer zone and in several other places necessary for its defense, to ensure the safety of the communities of the Golan Heights and the citizens of Israel.”

“We emphasize that the IDF is not interfering with the internal events in Syria,” the IDF said. “The IDF will continue to operate as long as necessary in order to preserve the buffer zone and defend Israel and its civilians.”

Israel has largely remained neutral throughout Syria’s civil war, but it did offer medical treatment to those injured in the war.

The move marks the first time Israeli troops have been stationed in the buffer zone since 1974. In addition to ending the 1973 Middle East war, the buffer zone was established in 1974 to create a demilitarized area within Syria administered by its government and patrolled by United Nations peacekeepers. 

There have been moments when Israel entered the zone. It captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and annexed the area in 1981. Most countries have not recognized the annexation of the Golan Heights, but in 2019, during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term, he said the United States would recognize Israel’s sovereignty in the area.