Uprooted Palestinian: SALAM ALQUDS ALAYKUM – سلام القدس عليكم: As Syria Intensifies Op in Daraa «Israeli» Army on High Alert in Golan Height deloy additional battle Tanks, Artillery Guns

«Israeli» Army on High Alert in Golan Heights as Syria Intensifies Op in Daraa

30-06-2018 | 14:39

Local EditorIn light of the intensified battles in southern Syria and the country’s army’s advances towards the “Israeli” border, the “Israel” Occupation Forces [IOF] have been put on high alert in the disputed area of the Golan Heights, Haaretz reported.

While Tel Aviv is said not to be expecting a direct confrontation with the Syrian Arab Army, it is preparing for potential collateral damage or other side-effects from the military’s assault in Daraa province, which is sixty kilometers away from the “Israeli” entity’s border.

Within this context, the IOF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot left for Washington on June 28 for brief talks with his US counterpart, Joseph Dunford.

On July 1, the security cabinet is set to gather to discuss the entity’s preparedness for a potential war along the country’s northern border.

Reacting to a massive influx of Syrian asylum-seekers in the “Israeli” entity’s north, War Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that even though Tel Aviv wouldn’t accept refugees, it was ready to provide humanitarian aid.

According to an IOF statement, aid was transferred to four different sites on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights during an overnight operation.

According to a statement released by the IOF Spokesperson’s Unit, the IOF “is monitoring the events in southern Syria and is preparing for a variety of scenarios, including continued humanitarian assistance to fleeing Syrians. We will not allow passage of Syrians fleeing the country and will continue to defend Israel’s security interests.”

“Israel” occupied the Golan Heights from Syria during the Six-Day War in 1967 and annexed the territory in 1981. The international community and the UN have not recognized the “Israeli” annexation, calling the decision to impose “Israeli” “laws, jurisdiction and administration” over the territory “null and void and without international legal effect”.

Responding to the UN’s condemnation, “Israeli” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that Tel Aviv would not retreat to the 1967 lines because they were “indefensible,” adding that the Golan Heights would “remain in the hands of ‘Israel’ forever.”

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

ISRAELI FORCES DEPLOY ADDITIONAL BATTLE TANKS, ARTILLERY GUNS ON CONTACT LINE WITH SYRIA

South Front

01.07.2018

Israeli Forces Deploy Additional Battle Tanks, Artillery Guns On Contact Line With Syria

Israeli soldiers manuever Merkava tanks and Namer armored personnel carriers (APCs) during the last day of a military exercise in the northern part of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on September 13, 2017. Israel’s military began in September 2017 a massive exercise simulating conflict with Hezbollah, the largest drill in nearly two decades. / AFP PHOTO / JALAA MAREY (Photo credit should read JALAA MAREY/AFP/Getty Images)

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have deployed additional armoured and artillery forces, including battle tanks, in the occupied Golan Heights, near the contact line with Syria.

The move was taken amid the developing advance of the Syrian Army against militant groups east of the Golan Heights.

It’s interesting that in its statement the IDF once again claimed that it is not involved in the war in Syria while in fact Israeli forces have repeatedly provided a direct and indirect support to militant groups fighting the government in Damascus. These actions were especially active in southern Syria.

“The IDF attaches great importance to maintaining the separation of forces agreement between Israel and Syria of 1974. In addition, the IDF will continue to insist on the principle of non-involvement in what is happening in Syria, alongside a policy of resolute response to the violation of Israel’s sovereignty and risk to its residents,” the IDF said in its statement. “Humanitarian assistance has been provided by Israel for years and continues today as needed.”

The IDF has also raised its alert level in the Golan Heights, according to Israel’s newspaper Haaretz.

“The Israel Defense Forces has raised its alert level in the Golan Heights in light of the recent escalation in the fighting in southern Syria between the Assad regime and rebel militias and the Syrian army’s increasing proximity to the Israeli border.

Israel isn’t expecting a direct confrontation with the Syrian army, but it is preparing for possibility of spillover effects from the regime’s attack, with Russian and Iranian assistance, on the Daraa region, which is just sixty kilometers from the Israeli border,” the newspaper said adding that the security cabinet will meet to discuss Israeli capabilities in the case uf a new war on July 1.

According to Syrian experts, the IDF may use military actions in southern Syria to justify new strikes on government forces’ targets inside Syria. If this is done, it will cause a new round of confrontation in the smoldering Israeli-Syrian conflict.

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