Syrians protest in Damascus against Israeli attacks on Quneitra and Daraa in January 2025 [Getty]
Israel‘s ongoing aggression in southern Syria is intensifying fears about its long-run ambitions in the country with suspicions about a plan to geographically divide the country.
Israel’s invasion of the south, sporadic attacks on Syrian military sites, and open support for alleged separatist forces are viewed as steps toward its longer-term occupation of Syria being dubbed as ‘David’s Corridor’. Â
What is David’s Corridor?
The idea that Israel intends to establish control over Syria‘s eastern border has been floating around for a few years, with primarily Turkish commentators referring to the alleged plan as ‘David’s Corridor’ that is said to link Israel to Kurdish-controlled territory in northern Syria.
Turkish analysts and politicians have expressed fears that Israel is colluding with Kurdish separatists in Syria to establish Israeli control over a vast swathe of territory between the occupied Golan Heights and the Euphrates area.
The aim, they say, is to create a continuous stretch of land between Israel and areas controlled by Kurdish separatist forces to prevent both Turkey and Iran from establishing a presence in Syria.
Concerns that Israel will attempt a large-scale land grab in Syria play into widely-held fears in the region that its ultimate aim is to establish a ‘Greater Israel’ articulated by the father of Zionism, Theodor Herzl.
His idea was for a Jewish state in the Middle East with biblical borders that would stretch from the Nile River to the Euphrates in Iraq.
Israel has expanded its occupation of southern Syria
Israel has responded to the downfall of the Assad regime by dramatically escalating military aggression in Syria, and justified the assault by portraying the new Islamist-led administration as a government of “terrorists”.
In the days and weeks after the Assad clan fled the country, Israeli warplanes bombed hundreds of sites across the country, taking out many of the Syrian army’s critical assets.
On the ground, Israeli troops stormed across the northern border and quickly seized huge swathes of Syrian land.
It now occupies the UN buffer zone, parts of Quneitra and Daraa provinces, and the strategically important Mount Hermon on the Lebanese border, which overlooks Damascus.
The Israeli government has made clear it’s not going anywhere, vowing to occupy the land indefinitely and erecting a number of military bases in the area.
It’s ear-marked the entire south as a no-go zone for the Syrian army
In areas of the south it hasn’t taken by force, Israel is trying to exercise indirect control over the territory by preventing the Syrian military from establishing a presence.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will not allow the Syrian army to operate anywhere south of Damascus, and earlier this month demanded the “complete demilitarisation of southern Syria” including the provinces of Quneitra, Deraa, and Suweida.
This would prevent the Syrian army from re-establishing control over a swathe of the country, including most of its border with Jordan.
The central government hasn’t exercised full control of the south of the country since the early days of the civil war, with the Druze minority governing autonomously in Suweida province, while Deraa and the Damascus countryside are under the control of various rebel groups and warlords.
Since coming to power, the Syrian government has tried to integrate the militias into a national army and reestablish control over the south. Talks between the two sides have stalled, with southern leaders still skeptical about the intentions of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham-linked government, dominated by figures from the north.
It’s openly stoking separatism
In parallel with Netanyahu’s comments, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar for the first time publicly articulated the government’s preference for a fragmented Syria.
In a speech at an EU-Israel meeting, Sa’ar called for the country to be broken up into separate autonomous states according to supposed ethnic and religious lines. This, he said, is important to protect the country’s minorities, which he claimed were under threat by the new government.
The government, which has been vocally supportive of Kurdish separatists in the country’s north-east, also began making overtures to the Druze community in Suweida.
Netanyahu positioned Israel as a defender of the Druze while Defence Minister Israel Katz said he is considering allowing the religious minority group into the occupied Golan Heights for work, triggering protests across the south of Syria.
All of this is triggering tensions with Turkey
Israel’s actions in Syria have been met with backlash from Turkey, whose foreign minister attacked Israel’s “expansionism” earlier this week.
“The ongoing occupations in Lebanon and Syria, the provocation and the aggression, as well as the continued violations against regional sovereignty, are unacceptable,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said.
Turkey has been one of the new Syrian government’s biggest foreign backers and is considering entering into a joint defence pact.
