The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, which patrols the Israel-occupied Golan Heights, has reported Israeli contact with Syrian ”rebels” over 18 months. Syria accused Israel in attacks near Damascus today.
The Israeli occupation military has been in direct contact with Syrian ”rebels” for more than 18 months, facilitating the treatment of wounded fighters and at times exchanging parcels and ushering uninjured Syrians into Israel, according to UN reports.
In August this year, the Al Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra (Nusra Front) took over the Quneitra border crossing, raising concerns of infiltration and attacks on Israeli targets.
Israel seized the Golan Heights in 1967 after conquering it in a war with Syria and annexed it in 1981. The cease-fire line is today patrolled by the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).
In the most recent report, from December 1, UNDOF stated that it observed soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) allowing two individuals to pass from the “Bravo” line – the Syrian side – to the “Alpha” line on the Israeli side. It added, “UNDOF sporadically observed armed members of the opposition interacting with IDF across the ceasefire line in the vicinity of United Nations position 85.”
Position 85 is located about 15 miles south of Quneitra and away from any Israeli population centers.
For example, the June 10, 2014 report details 59 incidents at Position 85 during which UNDOF “observed armed members of the opposition transferring 89 wounded persons from the Bravo side across the ceasefire line to IDF and IDF on the Alpha side handing over 19 treated and 2 deceased individuals to the armed members of the opposition on the Bravo side.”
According to Christa Case Bryant, Christian Science Monitor, at least some of those being treated are wounded fighters. In the spring of 2013, for example, after the permanent representative of Syria wrote to the UN secretary-general and the president of the Security Council about the reported transfer of injured Syrians to Israeli hospitals, the liaison officer of Israel “informed UNDOF that IDF had provided emergency medical treatment to 20 armed members of the opposition.”
It appears that the coordination may have other purposes as well. The June 2014 report notes “on one occasion, UNDOF observed IDF on the Alpha side handing over two boxes to armed members of the opposition on the Bravo side.”
M. Al-Ibrahim