UN peacekeepers withdrew from all of their posts in the Syrian Golan Heights Monday, as regime forces and rebel factions battled for control of the areas adjacent to the Syrian-Israeli border in what the UN called a “deteriorating situation.”
A UN spokesperson said all the troops posted on the Syrian side had been ordered to pull back into Israel.
The Syrian armed groups posed “a direct threat to the safety and security” of the troops from the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
“All the UN personnel in these positions have thus been relocated to the Alpha side,” said Dujarric, referring to the Israeli side.
The UN spokesperson said that the situation on the Syrian side of the Golan “has deteriorated severely over the last several days” and that “armed groups have made advances in the area of UNDOF positions.”
A source with the UN said soldiers from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force evacuated from Camp Faouar — their main headquarters in Syria — into Israel, out of concern for their safety, CNN reported.
The withdrawal came as rebels reportedly gained control of almost the entire Syrian border with Israel.
Earlier Monday, UN troops were seen bringing their gear over the border via special gates opened for them by the IDF, according to an Israel Radio report, and not through the rebel-controlled Quneitra crossing.
The Islamic State terror group is operating sleeper cells in southern Syria near the border with Israel, a spokesman for the opposition’s Free Syrian Army charged Sunday.
The spokesman, speaking to The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorized to communicate with Israeli media, said that some of the 6,000 Islamist fighters who fled southward toward the borders with Israel and Jordan in July actually belong to the Islamic State, not to the less extreme Nusra Front as previously believed.
The two Islamist organizations had clashed militarily in a struggle for control over oil-rich northeastern Syria, in which the Islamic State triumphed. The Times of Israel could not confirm the information, which was recently conveyed to the spokesman from a number of different sources.
While both are opposed to the rule of Syrian President Bashar Assad, the Free Syrian Army, a moderate rebel group, and Islamic State have fought a number of fierce battles in Syria.
“There are sleeper cells in the south, which are hidden. They don’t do anything [military] at all,” the spokesman said of IS. “Many people [in the moderate Syrian opposition] are following them and will strike at them before they organize.”
According to the intelligence agency of the Free Syrian Army, Islamic State activists would approach individuals in the area, offering them basic food staples or financial aid.
“They say: ‘Stay at home, no one will know about you. The moment we need you, we’ll call.’” The spokesman said that many locals refused the IS overtures, but that could change given the region’s grave poverty.
Two villages where IS representatives made such proposals are Hayt and Sahem Al-Jawlan, near the Syrian-Jordanian border, the spokesman said.
“They were sent by the Islamic State to control the largest portion of land possible,” he said.
Eyal Zisser, an expert on Syria at Tel Aviv University, said he was unaware of the IS presence in southern Syria, but was not surprised by the new information.
“The Islamic State is trying to establish itself all across Syria,” he told The Times of Israel. “The organization is going through a process of transformation. Other groups [in Syria] are trying to associate themselves with it and pledge allegiance to it. Some do so out of fear of IS, while others hope to benefit from it in the future.”
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4 comments:
How long will it be before they cross over into Israel? They have millions daily coming in, forcing their propaganda on children, other terrorist group members are switching to the ISIS side, they seem very organized and well equipped. Nothing is stopping them.
Why does Russia allow this? Seems they could mess up their gas and oil pipe lines and take over the oil wells.
Once they organize and try crossing into Israel, Israel might have to break out the nukes.
Personally, I think it will be a while before they attempt to take on Israel. (months?) - I would see their incursion into Lebanon and Jordan first, but thats just my guess. They need a much larger "army" to take on Israel and I would think they know that.
Russia will continue to support Assad for that very reason, and don;t forget Russia has "warned" us not to take any action in Syria w/o Assad's approval, which IMO is unlikely, so that too could add a layer of complication to the mix. (as if it wasn;t complicated enough already!)
Thanks for the reply...
22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
I hate to see all the evil, death and destruction. I pray you come soon Lord.
George - I SO agree with that. Its been a looong wait and the wait is really getting old (to me)..This world offers very little, especially now as we are in the shadow of the approaching Tribulation...We are in the world but not of the world, and thats never been more apparent. Time to go.
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