史上首次！内塔尼亚胡踏入叙利亚领土

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israeli forces will stay in a buffer zone on the Syrian border, seized after the ouster of Syria's President Bashar Assad, until another arrangement is in place "that ensures Israel's security".

Netanyahu made the comments from the summit of Mount Hermon — the highest peak in the area — inside Syria, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border with the Israel-held Golan Heights.

It appeared to be the first time a sitting Israeli leader had set foot that far into Syria.

sitting: adj 现任的

Netanyahu said that Israeli troops would occupy a buffer zone inside Syria for the foreseeable future.

Netanyahu, Defence Minister Israel Katz and the heads of the armed forces and the domestic security agency visited "outposts at the summit of Mount Hermon for the first time since they were seized by the military", Katz's office said.

"The summit of Mount Hermon serves as Israel's eyes for identifying both near and distant threats," the defence minister said.

Netanyahu's office said the meeting took place on the "Hermon ridge" and said the premier "reviewed the (army's) deployment in the area and set guidelines for the future".

Israeli forces have also been operating in areas beyond the buffer zone in Syrian-controlled territory, the military has confirmed.