Israeli incursions in southern Syria have continued since the collapse of the Syrian regime late last year, reaching nearly 200 military operations that now cover about 600 square kilometres, according to human rights organisations.
Israel reportedly requested the opening of a so-called “humanitarian corridor” into As-Suwayda province in southern Syria, as part of a proposal to create a demilitarised zone encompassing the area.
Damascus rejected the request, describing it as a flagrant violation of sovereignty.
Analysts link these developments to a Zionist project known as the “David Corridor.” But can such a corridor be realised inside Syria — and what obstacles would it face?
The Corridor and Israel’s Expansionist Vision
The David Corridor is part of the long-imagined map of “Greater Israel.”
Its name derives from a biblical legend claiming that an ancient “Kingdom of David” once existed in the region — a myth that the Zionist movement uses to give its expansionist plans both religious and military significance.
According to Zionist theorists, the proposed route begins in northern Palestine, crosses the Golan Heights, and continues through the Daraa and As-Suwayda governorates — then eastward across the desert of Homs and Deir ez-Zor, reaching the Euphrates River on the Syrian-Turkish-Iraqi border, before ending in Iraqi Kurdistan.
This path roughly outlines the borders of the so-called “Biblical Kingdom of David.”
A report by the Syrian Dialogue Center explains that the corridor’s concept arises from deep ideological roots within Zionist thought, feeding on the shifting landscape of the Syrian conflict.
Israel, the report says, has sought to exploit the collapse of the Assad regime to redraw regional geography to its advantage.
Researcher Dr Mohammad Salem noted that Israel aspires to build a land artery linking its territory eastward — securing access to oil-rich and economically strategic areas, while achieving a new regional depth that breaks its geographic isolation.
The report adds that the idea is not new. It traces back to early Zionist leaders such as Theodor Herzl, who published maps of a “Torah-based Israel” extending deep into Syria and Iraq.
This fits within David Ben-Gurion’s “Periphery Doctrine,” which sought alliances with non-Arab ethnic and religious minorities to fragment Arab unity and reshape the region’s map.
Geographical Barriers to the Corridor
The proposed corridor cuts across vast and rugged Syrian terrain, spanning diverse landscapes that would challenge any invading force.
Mohammad Za’al al-Saloum, a specialist in southern Syrian geography, explains that if Israel were to attempt such a route, it would have to cross multiple provinces whose combined area is over 30 times the size of Gaza.
He points to formidable physical obstacles — the Yarmouk Valley, al-Raqqad Valley, the Hauran plain, and the Syrian steppe — environments that would make any large-scale Israeli incursion nearly impossible.
“These are inhabited areas whose people reject occupation. Israel can cross them only in dreams and fantasies,” he said.
The rough terrain of Lajat, the Golan Heights, and Mount Hermon’s slopes would create another inferno for Israel, especially as it remains entangled in Gaza’s ongoing war — now entering its second year.
According to Saloum’s geographic indexes of southern and eastern Syria, permanent Israeli control stretching from the Golan into Syria’s interior and north is impossible:
rugged topography, entrenched social structures, and complex military-political realities cannot be subdued by isolated military operations or strategic wish-lists.
Since the fall of the previous Syrian government, Israel has already occupied strategic peaks of Mount Hermon, giving it surveillance capability over 200 kilometres inside Syrian territory and limited air-ground control.
An analysis by the Geopolitical Observatory noted that the David Corridor’s strategic concept treats geography not as a constraint but as a tool of domination.
The project represents a pattern of coordinated operations, alliances, and ambitions forming a contiguous sphere of influence tied to Israel — rather than a mere passageway.
According to Paolo Aguiar, a geopolitical analyst, the “David Corridor” is not a simple border adjustment but an attempt to merge multiple geographic zones into a single regional entity, effectively rewriting the Levant’s borders to give Israel central geographic dominance.
Aguiar argues that the corridor would create a land barrier between Lebanon and Iranian supply lines, thereby restructuring the logistics of the Resistance Axis and fragmenting its territories — weakening it structurally and increasing the cost of its survival.
Another report by the Syrian Dialogue Center confirmed that Israel’s recent aggressions in southern Syria have become a broader political issue with dangerous regional implications, threatening to dismantle Syria’s geography itself.
Demographic Realities
The areas within the proposed corridor are home to diverse ethnic and religious communities.
Israel has attempted to influence local actors, but deep-rooted Syrian social identity remains strongly opposed to any Israeli presence.
Dr Talal al-Mustafa, professor of sociology at Damascus University, told Al Jazeera Net that the project faces severe demographic obstacles:
dense and mixed populations make any geopolitical corridor unsustainable.
“Despite internal divisions, these communities do not see themselves as part of a foreign project. Decades of confrontation with Israel have shaped a collective memory that categorically rejects integration or coexistence with it,” he said.
Even though war and displacement have partially altered demographics, they did not create a vacuum that Israel could exploit.
According to al-Mustafa, “any attempt to impose such a corridor would face resistance from all components — including the Druze.”
Researcher Mohammad al-Sukkari added that the civil fabric of southern Syria has reorganised itself into local community structures due to state absence.
In some areas, such as Suwayda, local movements have emerged, while in others, international support has allowed limited civic organisation.
Israel, he said, is trying to co-opt these civil entities for political and military objectives, particularly in Suwayda, where militarisation now dominates.
American and Israeli officials told Axios that the Trump administration had tried to mediate a “humanitarian corridor” between Israel and Suwayda, ostensibly to deliver aid to the Druze community.
However, researchers argue that this was only a prelude to a broader plan — the creation of an Israeli corridor inside Syria aligned with the “David Corridor” project.
Security Repercussions and Political Realities
The Levant has remained unstable for years.
The ongoing war in Gaza, and earlier clashes in southern Lebanon, contribute to a volatile regional scene.
A project like the David Corridor would have grave security consequences, deepen Syrian divisions, and spill over into neighbouring countries.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan previously warned:
“We will not allow Syria to be destabilised or divided through the creation of any corridor — terrorist or otherwise.”
Researcher Samir al-Abdullah of the Harmoon Center said the corridor represents an explicitly partitionist agenda, connecting two zones outside Damascus’s central control — a move that would further fragment Syria’s map and its political coherence.
He warned that it would sever geographic and logistical links between Syria, Iraq, and Jordan, endangering regional trade and infrastructure lifelines.
Al-Abdullah added that such a project would threaten regional security and embolden other attempts to redraw Middle Eastern borders, unsettling neighbouring states with political and security leverage.
A report by Special Eurasia echoed this, warning that implementation would unleash unprecedented instability across Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran, reshaping the entire West Asian security balance.
The corridor, it said, would escalate Turkish-Israeli tensions and could even provoke direct confrontation, as it would disrupt Turkish trade routes to the Gulf and severely pressure Turkey’s economy.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan accused Israel of planning Syria’s fragmentation and threatened to intervene to protect its territorial unity.
Though he did not explicitly mention the David Corridor, the project has become a growing concern in Ankara.
The report concludes that countries such as Turkey, Russia, and Iran oppose the idea and are likely to counter it through proxy forces, diplomacy, or even military action, while local groups in southern Syria would resist on the ground.
Israel’s Military Capability and the Prospect of Confrontation
A study by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies found that Israel’s combat strength relies heavily on reserve forces, whose readiness and effectiveness have declined over the past three decades — making Israel reluctant to wage full-scale wars.
The study by researcher Mahmoud Muhareb revealed that the Israeli Air Force consumes about 50 percent of the defence budget, with around 38,000 active personnel, excluding reserves.
Military planners believe that airpower, drones, and intelligence could secure battlefield dominance — yet this reliance exposes Israel’s limitations in manpower and endurance.
Military expert Abdel Jabbar al-Aqeidi told Al Jazeera Net that despite Israel’s air superiority, it cannot implement the David Corridor militarily.
“The project would require a full-scale ground invasion covering every area along the route — an operation that would provoke neighbouring armies,” he said.
He added that even though the Syrian army is currently weakened, the scenario would likely devolve into a vast guerrilla war, stretching Israel’s forces thin.
Strategic analyst Abdullah al-Asaad agreed, noting that while Israel possesses long-range strike capability, it suffers from slow ground manoeuvrability and logistical strain during extended conflicts — as seen in Gaza.
“A corridor of this scale is central to the Zionist vision of Greater Israel, but such massive ground operations would expose Israel’s weakness, just as the war in Gaza has,” he said.
Al-Aqeidi concluded that:
“The David Corridor is militarily impossible at present. Israel can realise it only in its imagination.”
Sunna Files Editorial Note
The so-called “David Corridor” represents more than a strategic fantasy — it reflects a Zionist ideological continuity that aims to redraw Muslim lands under religious pretexts and military opportunism.
Yet, the people of Syria, despite years of war and displacement, remain deeply rooted in their land and identity, unwilling to submit to another colonial partition.
This project, like the myth it is based on, reveals the colonial mindset of modern Zionism: to erase boundaries, identities, and sovereignties in pursuit of a fabricated divine entitlement.
But as history repeatedly shows, the soil of the Levant resists occupation — and every invader who tried to carve through it met his end within its mountains and valleys.
