Latest news with #Syrian-controlled
Int'l Business Times
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Int'l Business Times
'Like A Dream': Druze Reunited Across Golan Heights Buffer Zone
Dozens of Druze crowded the Israeli-controlled side of the armistice line in the occupied Golan Heights on Thursday, hoping to catch a glimpse of relatives on the Syrian-held side who might try to cross the barbed-wire frontier. Young men drove around the area near the de facto border, waving the Druze flag with its five colourful stripes representing the pillars of their Druze faith, an esoteric offshoot of Shiite Islam. The area has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, separating the Golan Druze from their relatives across the demilitarised buffer zone. In the crowds, everyone asked for news of their families across the frontier, where days of violence in Syria's Druze-majority Sweida province have left hundreds dead since Sunday, according to a monitor. "Because of the dramatic situation in Syria, the murders, massacres and the violence, many people headed towards the border," said Qamar Abu Saleh, a 36-year-old educator, who lives in Majdal Shams. "They opened the fence and entered, and people from Syria also started crossing here. "It was like a dream, and we still can't believe it happened", she said enthusiastically, adding she came that day in the hope that the border would permanently reopen. "It was completely crazy," Amali Shufek, another resident, told AFP. Shufek, in her 50s, hoped to meet her uncle's family living on the Syrian-controlled side just a few kilometres away. She left her parents on chairs facing the fence, again guarded by the Israeli army, hoping it would open again so that she might meet her cousins. "I've only seen photos of them," she added. Nearby, a group of men hugged one another while a small Druze child from across the frontier waved an Israeli flag. The boy's father, who did not disclose his name for security reasons, said they had come from the village of Hader, and that he had just spent a few hours with his cousins in Majdal Shams. "We didn't sleep all night, we only talked," he said. "I have goose bumps just seeing him here", said his cousin who lives on the Israeli-controlled side, adding that he wished for peace in the area so that these visits could become commonplace. In the afternoon, several Druze under Israeli army supervision were escorted through a hole in the ceasefire line fence back to Syrian-controlled territory. Israel, which is home to over 150,000 Druze, including those in the occupied Golan Heights, has presented itself as a defender of the minority group and bombed Syrian forces during the clashes in Sweida. Those living in Israel hold Israeli citizenship, but most of the roughly 23,000 from the occupied Golan do not and still identify as Syrians. Some analysts say that Israel is using the Druze as a pretext to pursue its own military goal of keeping Syrian government forces as far from their shared frontier as possible. Following former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's overthrow in December, the Israeli military took control of the UN-monitored demilitarised zone in the Golan Heights and conducted hundreds of strikes on military targets in Syria. Israel and Syria signed an armistice in 1974 after the Arab-Israeli war of the previous year, but never a formal peace treaty. Though Israel has made contact with Syria's new Islamist-led authorities, it has treaded with caution and is now showing clear antagonism towards them. A few local elders and Druze clerics wearing traditional clothing -- a white veil covering the mouth for women and a red tarboush cap wrapped in a white cloth for men -- had also come to watch the horizon. While the Druze are spread across Syria, Lebanon and Israel, they "all belong to the same family", Salim Safadi, a resident of a nearby village, told AFP. "I think we have some sort of agreement with Israel; when they have a problem we help them, and when we have a problem they help us," the 60-year-old lawyer said, pointing to the fact that many Druze serve in Israel's armed forces and police. He said he felt grateful for Israel's intervention in Syria's clashes, and that it was its involvement that brought the ceasefire announced Wednesday. "We condemn what is happening in Syria, it's a barbaric act", said Intisar Mahmud, a woman in her sixties shocked by the recent days' events. "Even animals don't do this -- they killed innocents", she added. "We ask the entire world to stand by our relatives in Syria", she said, adding that the current borders did not always exist and calling on people of the region to be like "the fingers of one hand". Some Syrian Druze managed to cross the heavily fortified frontier AFP Israel is home to over 150,000 Druze including those in the occupied Golan Heights AFP Israel and Syria signed an armistice at the end of the war that opposed them in 1973, but never a formal peace treaty AFP The Druze constitute an Arabic-speaking minority in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel AFP
Al-Ahram Weekly
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Syria ready to work with US to return to 1974 disengagement deal with Israel - Region
Syria said on Friday it was willing to cooperate with the United States to reimplement the 1974 disengagement agreement with Israel, a deal that created a United Nations-patrolled buffer zone separating the two countries' forces on the Golan Heights. In a statement following a phone call with his US counterpart Marco Rubio, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani expressed Damascus's 'aspiration to cooperate with the United States to return to the 1974 disengagement agreement.' The accord, reached a year after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, established an 80-kilometre (50-mile) UN-monitored buffer zone between Israeli-occupied territory and Syrian-controlled land. While the Golan Heights is internationally recognised as Syrian territory, Israel captured around two-thirds of the area during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and unilaterally annexed it in 1981—a move not recognised by most of the international community. Following the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, the Israeli army occupied outposts on the Syrian-controlled sector of Mount Hermon, inside the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) buffer zone. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Syrian forces had abandoned their positions after Assad's fall and said he ordered the army to 'temporarily' seize the area until new security arrangements could be made. Netanyahu later declared the 1974 agreement 'collapsed' and expanded Israeli military control into parts of the demilitarised zone, citing security concerns. The UNDOF condemned the move as a 'severe violation' of the ceasefire and said Israeli activity breached the terms of the agreement. At the 34th Arab League Summit in May 2025, al-Shaibani described Israel's ongoing violations as posing 'a direct threat to regional stability,' urging international pressure for Israeli withdrawal, according to Anadolu Agency. Despite widespread international condemnation, Israel has shown no intention of pulling back. In recent weeks, Washington has intensified diplomatic efforts to broker a normalisation deal between Syria and Israel. US envoy Thomas Barrack told The New York Times that the two sides were engaged in 'meaningful' US-brokered talks aimed at ending their decades-long border conflict. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Monday that Israel had an 'interest' in normalising relations with Syria and Lebanon. However, he insisted the Golan Heights 'will remain part of the State of Israel' under any future agreement. Syrian state media reported that al-Shaibani and Rubio also discussed US sanctions, the chemical weapons dossier, Iranian involvement in Syria, counterterrorism efforts against ISIS, and repeated Israeli attacks on southern Syria. Rubio reportedly warned that the worst outcome would be a fragmented Syria or a return to civil war. Syria and Israel have technically remained in a state of war since 1948. Israel has carried out frequent airstrikes and incursions across Syria, particularly in the south, targeting army positions and killing civilians. *This story was edited by Ahram Online. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
LBCI
20-03-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Tensions ease on Lebanon-Syria border as Lebanese army reestablishes control — the details
Report by Edmond Sassine, English adaptation by Karine Keuchkerian With decisiveness, wisdom, and calm, the Lebanese army successfully liberated the Lebanese part of the border town of Hawsh al-Sayyid Ali. It deployed reinforcements of special units, coordinated with local factions to stay behind, and began direct negotiations with the Syrian side based on administrative division maps between the two countries. After two days of negotiations, the border in Hawsh al-Sayyid Ali was defined, and it became clear that the Syrian army had occupied lands and homes within Lebanese sovereignty. These areas had been entered by Syrian forces. As a result of the negotiations, by Wednesday at 10:15 a.m., Syrian army units withdrew from Hawsh al-Sayyid Ali, and the Lebanese army began entering all Lebanese territories, establishing fixed checkpoints. At the same time, to ensure a safe return for locals to their homes, engineering units of the Lebanese army began clearing the area of remnants of clashes and unexploded ordnance. The Lebanese army also dismantled ammunition and weapons storage inside the town, which had been controlled by the Syrian army and transferred to Syrian territory. The expected return of locals to their homes will currently be limited to properties located within Lebanese borders, as military sources confirmed that returning to homes in Syrian-controlled areas will not be allowed at this time. However, when locals attempted to enter in the afternoon, gunfire was heard from within Syrian territory, causing them to retreat. Meanwhile, the Lebanese army closed illegal crossings in the Qasr-Hermel area and the Masharee al-Qaa region to prevent infiltration and smuggling. The army also worked to prevent armed appearances, which led to some objections that were quickly resolved. The army's deployment and the return of locals mark the end of the second round of tensions and clashes. The entry of Syrian forces into Hawsh al-Sayyid Ali, deep within Lebanese territory, was seen by observers as a matter larger than disputes with the factions and border issues. The Hawsh al-Sayyid Ali area was one of Hezbollah's key points for supply lines and crossings. According to field sources, the group did not engage in the clashes on the eastern border.
Shafaq News
08-02-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Israel strikes Hamas weapons depot in southern Syria
Shafaq News/ On Saturday, the Israeli army announced an airstrike targeting a weapons depot belonging to Hamas in southern Syria. "The Israeli Air Force conducted an airstrike based on intelligence confirming the presence of a weapons storage facility belonging to Hamas in the Deir Ali area in southern Syria," the army stated. Since the fall of Bashar Al-Assad's regime in December 2024, Israel has intensified its military operations in Syria. One of the key actions was the invasion of the buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. This operation captured strategic locations such as Madinat al-Salam, Khan Arnabah, Ma'ariya, Al-Wehda Dam, Quneitra, and the Syrian-controlled side of Mount Hermon (Jabal al-Shaykh). This marked the first Israeli occupation of Syrian territory in over 50 years. The invasion was a direct response to the Syrian Army abandoning its positions along the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) buffer area. In addition to ground operations, Israel has conducted numerous aerial campaigns targeting Syrian military capabilities under the pretext that these operations are part of a broader strategy to prevent advanced weaponry from falling into the hands of factions and to maintain security along the Israeli-Syrian border, according to the Times of Israel. One of the key operations, known as Operation Bashan Arrow, was launched following Al-Assad's fall. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) targeted Syrian military capabilities across the country, conducting over 350 airstrikes that destroyed approximately 70-80% of the former regime's strategic military assets, including long-range projectiles, Scud missiles, cruise missiles, and chemical weapons stockpiles. The IDF also conducted extensive naval and aerial strikes on Syrian military targets, including airbases, weapon depots, and production sites in Damascus, Homs, Tartus, Latakia, and Palmyra. The Israeli Navy destroyed several Syrian naval vessels in the Minet el-Beida bay and Latakia port, as per the Times of Israel.
