Azernews.Az

AzerNEWS Staff

Read more

Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli has warned that Syria could become the next major war front for Israel, saying there is “no avoiding it”, AzerNEWS reports.

“Syria is Gaza on steroids, and that is the next war, with absolute certainty,” Chikli said. “There is no avoiding it.”

His remarks come as Israel continues military operations across several fronts, including Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iran. Israeli officials have previously described the country as fighting a war on multiple fronts across the region.

Chikli has previously made similar warnings about Syria. In June, he said Israel would “wage war on Syria, sooner or later,” arguing that Syria and Türkiye represented a greater challenge to Israel than Iran.

His latest comments come amid an increasingly tense situation in southern Syria. Following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024, Israel declared the 1974 Syria-Israel Disengagement Agreement void and moved its forces into the UN-monitored buffer zone adjoining the occupied Golan Heights. Israeli forces subsequently established positions deeper inside southern Syria.

Israeli military operations in the area have continued despite repeated statements from Syria’s new leadership that it does not seek confrontation with Israel. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has called for Israeli forces to return to the positions they held before Assad’s fall, while Israel has demanded the establishment of a demilitarised zone covering large parts of southern Syria.

Israeli forces have continued conducting raids, searches and incursions in southern Syria. Days before Chikli's latest remarks, Israeli troops entered Quneitra province, established checkpoints and searched civilians and vehicles.

Syrian state media also reported that Israeli forces opened fire toward civilian homes in the Daraa countryside, prompting some residents to flee.