The struggle for the Levant has been going on for thousands of years. Why was this area so important then and why would it be important now?
To go back to the prehistory in which Egypt ruled, the Levant was extremely important. It was known as Canaan and Syria. It is bordered on one side by the Mediterranean Sea and on the other side by the Arabian Desert and included Samaria, Moab and Aman later becoming Israel and Judah.
To the South was Egypt and to the North was Mesopotamia, later the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Empires and then Part of the Hellenistic and later Roman Empires.
The Levant was the landbridge between the Southern empire of Egypt and the northern Mesopotamia. If that was not open, travel would mean the difficult passage across the Arabian Desert. It was important to control the Levant for easier passage and trade between these two empires. It also was important to control it for sea trade on the Mediterranean. This land bridge was fought over for many centuries and still is in dispute in parts today. The Levant had many resources and the Jezreel Valley which was the breadbasket of the Levant. It was important financially and militarily for the larger empires. The battles for control of the Levant shaped much of Israel's history. These disputes are referred to in the Merneptah Stella from Thebes (1200 BCE) and the Amarna Letters (1400 BCE). These disputes were also referred to in the Execration Texts as far back as 1900 BCE where there is a reference to the conquering of Canaan.
He who controlled the Levant, controlled trade and military advantage in this area.
So today we have the modern day Levant, comprised of Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, the southern part of Turkey, and some include Cyprus in this. The Gaza Strip is still being disputed between Israel and Palestine. Also the Mesopotamian area, which is Iraq is in the north.
ISIL or the Islamic State in the Levant apparently has decided that this area is important for their Caliphate. It has the advantage of controlling all the area north of Egypt up to Iraq. It would give them military advantage in that area, open seaports for jumping off places to other Mediterranean areas should they want to expand further and would give them control over to the Arabian Desert. Though we have not heard much about it, it also leads into Egypt. If they are wanting to have an Islamic Caliphate like the Islamic Empire in Medieval times this would be a good start. Remember, in the 1300's to the 1400's they controlled the Mediterranean, Spain and other areas. One wonders if this is not their aim. To restore the old empire.
When you see what areas they are trying to take, you can see how concerning it should be to the whole middle east.