Afrasianet - Youssef Ahmed Badawi - Israeli incursions into southern Syria have been ongoing since the fall of the regime late last year, with nearly 200 operations covering about 600 square kilometers, according to human rights groups.

Israel had requested the opening of a "humanitarian corridor" to the southern Syrian province of Sweida as part of an agreement aimed at establishing a demilitarized zone that includes Sweida, but Syria rejected the request as a violation of sovereignty.

Many researchers link these events to a Zionist project called "David's Passage", so can this corridor be implemented in Syria? What are the obstacles in its implementation?

The Corridor and Israel's Ambition

The Passage of David is located within the desired map of Greater Israel, and the Passage is also named after a Jewish legend of a so-called state that existed in the time of the Prophet David, peace be upon him, which makes the Passage of religious and military significance and expresses Israel's expansionist visions in the region.

According to biblical Zionist theorists, the corridor starts from northern Palestine through the Golan Heights, crosses the governorates of Daraa and Suwayda, then the eastern desert of Homs and Deir ez-Zor, and reaches the east of the Euphrates on the Syrian border with Turkey and Iraq, and ends in Iraqi Kurdistan, drawing the borders of a so-called state during the era of the Prophet David.

A research report at the Syrian Dialogue Center indicated that the David Corridor plan stems from ideological roots that are deeply rooted in doctrinal Zionist thought, and feeds on the variables of the Syrian conflict, as Israel sought to exploit the moment of transformation and the fall of the Assad regime to redraw geopolitics.

The report, prepared by researcher Dr. Mohamed Salem, states that Israel hopes to establish a connected land artery that will allow it to expand geographically towards the east, reach oil and economic areas, and achieve a new regional strategic depth that will give it an opportunity to penetrate the map and break its geographical isolation.

The roots of the idea of the corridor are not entirely new, as it is based on old Zionist ambitions, and this concept appeared in the writings  of Theodor Herzl and other founders of the Zionist movement, based on Jewish religious maps that place parts of Syria and Iraq within the borders of "biblical Israel."

The idea of the corridor is linked to the "doctrine of the ocean" adopted by Ben-Gurion  (Israel's first prime minister), which seeks to ally with national and religious minorities to fragment the Arab depth and reshape the map of the region.

Geographical challenges

The Passage of David cuts vast territory deep into Syrian territory, and crosses many diverse and ambiguous geographies in some parts of it, which will pose enormous challenges for any army that wants to cross it.

Mohammed Zaal al-Salloum, a researcher in the geography of southern Syria, explains that the geography of southern and eastern Syria is rugged, and if Israel takes the so-called corridor, it will have to pass through many governorates, whose total area within the corridor is more than 30 times the size of Gaza.

Salloum adds that there will be clear geographical obstacles, such as the areas of Wadi al-Yarmouk, Wadi al-Raqqad and the Houran plain, and Israel does not have much opportunities to cross, which if a long road is paved in the desert to reach the Euphrates River, these different environments will only be able to be crossed by Israel in dreams and fantasies, in addition to the fact that these areas are inhabited by communities that reject the Israeli occupation.

The ruggedness of the mountains, the Golan Heights and the foothills of Mount El-Sheikh would constitute a new hell for Israel if it occupied it in conjunction with the two-year Gaza spiral.

Based on Salloum's geographical dictionaries of southern and eastern Syria, it would be impossible to talk about Israel's ability to extend permanent influence from the Golan Heights to the depths of Syria and then to the north of Syria: rugged terrain, deep-rooted social structures, and complex military and political calculations that cannot be resolved by mere desire or isolated military operations.

Since the fall of the former Syrian regime, Israel has occupied strategic areas such as the peaks of the Jabal al-Sheikh Heights, enabling it to monitor areas stretching about 200 kilometers inside Syria and giving it some control over the ground and air.

The strategic concept of the Corridor of David is based on the realization that geography is not a secondary factor, but rather a flexible tool for imposing control, and the corridor emerges as a clear pattern through operations, alliances, and ambitions in the territory of the corridor that together suggest a coherent design and an area of influence connected to Israel rather than just a land route for crossing.

According to the report prepared by geopolitical expert Paulo Aguiar, the David Corridor is not a simple border adjustment, as it is a merger of many geographical dimensions into a single regional form, and aims to reset the border system of the Levant, bypassing existing sovereignty and inserting itself as a connective fabric of a new geography, and the result is an attempt to give Israel an advantage in geographical centralization.

Paulo adds that the geography of the corridor constitutes a land separation between Lebanon and Iranian supplies, and this will change the supply architecture within the axis of resistance, in addition to limiting the rest of the forces to fragmented and non-adjacent sectors, which will weaken them structurally and increase the cost of their continuation.

Another research report by the Syrian Dialogue Center confirmed that the recent Israeli pressures and aggressions are no longer limited to managing the dispute with parties inside Sweida, but have turned into a political file with dangerous regional ramifications that threaten to dismantle the Syrian geography.

These attacks coincide with what is constantly being raised in what is known as the strategic "David Project" , and that this aggressive behavior will stand in the way of the stability of the southern region, according to the recently published report.

Demographic complexities

Many ethnic and religiously diverse communities live in populated areas within the area of the supposed corridor, and Israel is trying to influence through some of the controlling forces, but with a deep-rooted rejection of any Israeli corridor or occupation by Syrian society in general.

In an interview with Talal Al-Mustafa, a researcher and professor of sociology at Damascus University, he says that the David Corridor project in Syria will face multiple and complex demographic difficulties, as the demographics are diverse and dense, which makes any geopolitical project in the corridor area lacking population homogeneity.

Regarding the identity connection in the corridor area, researcher Talal Al-Mustafa believes that the majority of religious and sectarian components, despite their differences, do not find themselves part of an external project, and that the public consciousness is affected by the historical conflict with Israel, which has produced a collective memory that is hostile to it and categorically rejects any demographic or social rapprochement with it.

Although migrations, displacement and the Syrian war have partially changed the demographic structure, they have not established a population vacuum that can be invested in the corridor project, as the demographic composition of southern Syria and the corridor area is not assimilable, and any attempt to impose the corridor will face resistance from various components, including the Druze, according to Talal al-Mustafa.

The war has caused some societal fragmentation in southern Syria and in Syria in general, according to Mustafa, but not to the extent that it allows Israel to impose a corridor of this size and symbolism in a populated area that clings to its Syrian, Arab and Islamic affiliation, and this corridor is nothing more than an Israeli illusion.

Regarding the state of civil society in the areas within the corridor area, researcher Mohammed al-Sukkari says that civil society in southern Syria has been organized in the form of local communities due to the lack of government support, with the exception of Suwayda, which witnessed a trade union movement in the last years of the revolution, while the areas of northwest Syria have witnessed a degree of civil society organization due to the presence of international support.

Israel is trying to woo civil society for political and military purposes in areas such as Sweida, where the military security situation currently prevails over the civilian one, according to al-Sukkari.

A U.S. official and two Israeli officials told Axios that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration  is trying to broker an agreement to establish a humanitarian corridor between Israel and the city of Sweida in southern Syria, with the aim of delivering aid to the Druze community there.

However, a number of researchers believe that this step is nothing more than a prelude to a broader project of establishing an Israeli corridor inside Syria, which will later extend within the areas of local communities along the so-called "Passage of David."

Security Implications and Political Reality

The Levant region has been living in an unstable situation for years, as the Syrian scene is still unstable, and the ongoing war in Gaza and by southern Lebanon, all of this makes the region live in complex political conditions, and with the talk of the corridor, such a project will have serious security repercussions and result in internal Syrian divisions and its impact will reach other countries.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earlier stressed that "we will not allow the destabilization of Syria and we will not allow it to be divided by the establishment of a terrorist corridor in its north, and we will not allow the division of this country through the establishment of any other corridors."

In this context, Samir al-Abdullah, a researcher at the Hermon Center for Studies, says that the implementation of a corridor of this size and location is a step of a clear divisive nature, as it connects two areas outside the central control of the Syrian state, which will lead to the dismantling of the map and deepening the field and political divisions that have formed during the years of conflict.

Such a corridor would sever the geographical and logistical links between Syria and Iraq and Jordan, and would result in the closure or weakening of important strategic arteries linking Syria to its regional depth, and this would pose a security and geopolitical risk to the Syrian state, al-Abdullah said.

The project has implications for the region's security, as well as encouraging parallel projects and raising fears of attempts to change the border maps of neighbouring countries that have political and security leverage, according to Samir al-Abdullah.

A report by the "Special Eurasia" agency indicated that if this corridor is implemented, it will throw an unprecedented state of instability that reaches Lebanon, Iraq, and even Iran and others, with repercussions on the regional security of West Asia.

According to the report, the corridor will increase tensions between Turkey and Israel, and may lead to direct conflict, as this corridor will disrupt Turkish trade routes to the Gulf countries, putting a great strain on Turkey's economy.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has accused Israel of planning to break up Syria and threatened to intervene to protect its territorial integrity, and although Fidan did not directly refer to the Passage of David, it has become a growing concern in Ankara.

Countries such as Turkey, Russia, and Iran oppose the idea of the corridor, and will confront it through proxy forces, diplomacy, and even military operations, and that local groups in southern Syria will confront the project.

IDF Capabilities and Confrontation

A study by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies indicated that Israel relies on reserve forces for its army's combat strength, whose role has declined in the last three decades and their combat readiness has decreased and their level has declined, which makes it reluctant to fight all-out wars.

The study, prepared by researcher Mahmoud Mohareb, stated that the Israeli Air Force is of utmost importance in building the army's strength, as its annual budget for half a century reaches 50% of the army's budget, bringing the number of regular air force forces to 38,000 without reserves.

According to the study, the IDF Command believes that it can rely on modern aircraft, drones and intelligence to resolve the war, based on huge budgets provided to gather information on military organizations and formations.

Regarding the possibility of implementing the David Corridor, military expert Abdul Jabbar Al-Aqidi told Al Jazeera Net that the Israeli army, despite its air superiority, cannot implement this corridor, as it does not have enough human capabilities to cover that area and the planes will not be able to resolve the situation, and a project of this size requires a ground invasion of all areas within the area of the supposed corridor, which may constitute a provocation to the armies of neighboring countries.

He believes that although the current Syrian army does not have significant military capabilities, the confrontation within this scenario could turn from a military confrontation to a guerrilla war within a vast and extended area.

For his part, military and strategic expert Abdullah al-Asaad says that Israel has a long and striking arm in the Middle East, but it will face major obstacles, most notably the weight of the movement of its soldiers in the real confrontation, which leads to slow maneuvering at the level of personnel and equipment, as evidenced by the experiences of previous events such as what happened in the Gaza Strip.

This corridor is essential to the Greater Israel project, but when such protracted military operations require a large deployment of infantry and equipment, the IDF will become as weak as it is now in the Gaza Strip.

Such a corridor is currently impossible to implement militarily, and Israel can only do it in its imagination.