Tag Archive for Golan Heights

| July 27, 2013
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Breaking News: Israel reportedly attacked Syrian weapons convoy to Hezbollah

Syrian rebels & Lebanese news website report Israel Air Force activity in Baalbek area, over Quneitra, in Golan Heights, claim Hezbollah-bound weapons convoy bombed.

BY Roi Kais

 

 

Another Israeli strike in Syria? Arab media outlets reported Israeli Air Force activity in the Beqaa Valley in east Lebanon and in the Golan Heights on Saturday.

Israel Air Force F-16i (Sufa) - Photo Courtesy: IDF Spokesperson's office

Israel Air Force F-16i (Sufa) – Photo Courtesy: IDF Spokesperson’s office

Meanwhile, the Military Revolutionary Council in Golan Quneitra, a rebel group, claimed that aircraft also bombed a missile convoy making its way to Lebanon from Syria. The reports could not be confirmed by any Western source. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| July 17, 2013
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Syrians Fire on IDF Night-Patrol in Golan Heights, IDF Returns Fire

IDF on regular night patrol of border with Syria in the Golan comes under direct fire, returns fire at group of unidentified suspects on the Syrian frontier.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
 

 

An army force on a routine patrol of the border with Syria on the Golan Heights came under fire and shot back at a group of unidentified suspects on the frontier.

There were no injuries among IDF soldiers in the incident.

IDF troops survey the Golan Heights.

IDF troops survey the Golan Heights.- Photo: REUTERS

IDF soldiers identified a group of suspects who had entered an unmanned military post along the Syrian-Israeli border.

The suspects did not cross the border fence, but were in Israeli territory when they attacked the IDF, an army spokeswoman said. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| July 16, 2013
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Numerous shells hit Golan from Syrian battle

No injuries, no damage in what looks like apparent stray fire from ongoing fighting between Syrian gov’t forces & rebels fighters.

By Gil Ronen
exploded shell - Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

exploded shell – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

 

 

Mortar fire from inside war-torn Syria hit the Israeli part of the Golan Heights on Tuesday, an IDF spokeswoman said.

“Several mortar rounds fired from Syria exploded in northern Golan without causing any damage or casualties,” the spokeswoman told AFP.

It was apparently stray fire from fighting between Syrian government forces and rebels and was not deliberately fired towards Israeli territory, she added.

The Golan has been tense since the beginning of the conflict in Syria more than two years ago, but so far there have been only minor flare-ups as Syrian small arms fire or mortar rounds hit the Israeli side, prompting an occasional Israeli response. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| July 11, 2013
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Israeli Druze Students studying in Syria return home for summer break

Expressing their ambivalence at the prospect of returning

, dozens of Druze studying in Syria returned to Israel for their summer break, recall experiences & hardship of studying in a country at war.

Hassan Shaalan

Dozens of Druze students returned Thursday from Damascus to their Golan Heights homes to a slew of hugs and tears of joy on the part of their families.

התקבלו בשלום ובברכה (צילום: אביהו שפירא)

Students return from Syria – Photo: Avihu Shapira

A number of them spoke to Ynet and recalled the fear shrouding the country and expressed reservation regarding the prospect of returning to Bashar Assad‘s war-torn Syria for the remainder of their studies. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| July 11, 2013
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Israel fortifies its Syrian border to answer Hezbollah threat

 

Israel worried Nasrallah is making initial preparations for future confrontation on new Golan front.

 

Source:  Jihadi rebels busy now but once civil war ends they will turn their guns on Jewish State

By Reuters

 

Israel is bolstering its forces on the once-quiet frontier with Syria where it believes Lebanese Hezbollah militants are preparing for the day when they could fight Israel.

פיצוץ מכונית התופת בביירות אתמול. המורדים הסורים חשודים (צילום: EPA)

Car bomb explosion in Beirut, Tuesday – Photo: EPA

Syria’s civil war has brought an end to decades of calm on the Golan Heights, a strip of land which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| June 27, 2013
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UN demands Assad & Rebels halt all military activity in Golan Heights

UN Security Council extends mandate of UNDOF deployed on Syrian-Israeli border.

By Reuters and

 

 

The UN Security Council has demanded a halt to all military activity by the Syrian government and opposition fighters on the Golan Heights and called for stepped up measures to protect peacekeepers who have been caught in crossfire.

UN peacekeeping soldiers from Austria near the Quneitra border crossing between Israel and Syria, June 2013. - Photo by Reuters

UN peacekeeping soldiers from Austria near the Quneitra border crossing between Israel and Syria, June 2013. – Photo by Reuters

A resolution adopted unanimously by the council on Thursday extended the mandate of the UN force monitoring the disengagement of Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights until December 31. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , , ,
| June 27, 2013
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Golan Peacekeepers now to be Armed with Machine Guns

UNSC upgrades UNDOF peacekeepers with machine guns, extra body armor & more armored vehicles.

By Gil Ronen

 

The UN Security Council on Thursday backed UN peacekeepers in the Golan Heights carrying machine guns, as fallout from the Syria war increases in the ceasefire zone, AFP reported.

UN base outside of Quneitra, Golan Heights – Photo IsraelandStuffPP

UN base outside of Quneitra, Golan Heights – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP 

The 15-member council passed a resolution to extend the mandate of the force, which monitors a three-decade-old ceasefire between Syria and Israel, but which called on Syrian government and opposition fighters to stay out of the zone.

The council strongly condemned three abductions of UN peacekeepers in the Golan since March and expressed “grave concern” at violations of the 1974 ceasefire accord. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| June 26, 2013
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Defense Minister: Reserve Combat Units ‘Likely to Be Called Up Soon’

Yaalon hints of a major military operation during his visit to the Golan Heights.

By Maayana Miskin

 

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon hinted Wednesday that Israel may call up its combat soldiers for a major operation in the near future.

Yaalon spoke as he and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu observed a Golani Brigade drill in the Golan.

“I was impressed by the Golani Brigade’s capability, preparedness and skill,” he said.

“Golani, like many other IDF combat units, is likely to be called to operational service on short notice,” he added. “That’s why this exercise, like other drills in recent days, has special meaning at this time and in this place.” Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| June 23, 2013
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Israeli Druze appeal to gov’t to aid family members in Syria

Israeli Druze leaders from northern Israel have asked the Israeli government to allow their children who are in Syria to return to home.

By Chana Ya’ar

 

Druze leaders in northern Israel have appealed to the Israeli government to allow their children who had crossed the border into Syria and stayed there, back into the Jewish State.

In a written request to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the leaders asked not only for the students to return home, but also for permits for the Syrian relatives of the students – spouses and other family members – to cross the border to safety in Israel. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| June 17, 2013
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Fiji troops replaced UN Austrian peacekeepers who fled from the Golan

Nearly 170 Fiji  soldiers to join UNDOF on Israel-Syria border after Austria’s soldiers withdrew before replacements took over.

By Ynet

 

The United Nations announced Monday that 170 peacekeepers from Fiji will join the UN’s Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) stationed on the Israel– Syria border by the end of the month.

עזבו את הגבול ונכנסו לישראל. נסיגת הכוח האוסטרי (צילום: EPA)

Fiji force to replace Austrians – Photo: EPA

They will be replacing Austrian forces who have pulled out of the area following an escalation in the fighting between Assad’s forces and the rebels.

The Austrian troops left the Golan Heights area last week. Austria’s dramatic decision to withdraw from the area led the UN’s Security Council to harshly condemn the spread of violence to the demilitarized buffer zone. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , ,
| June 13, 2013
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Israel Air Force Pilots are Training to Neutralize all Syrian or Lebanese Threats

IAF pilots have begun daily training to meet any possible threat posed by the growing instability in neighboring Syria & Lebanon.

By Rina Tzvi

 

Israeli air force pilots are training daily to meet threats posed by instability in neighboring Syria and Lebanon, pilots at a base in the north of the Jewish state said on Wednesday.

 

Daily drills include preparing to counter “the transfer of all kinds of weapons that could lead to terror attacks,” Lieutenant Colonel N, who could not reveal his last name, told the AFP news agency on a rare visit by journalists to Ramat David air base. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| June 12, 2013
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Austria began withdrawing their peacekeepers from Syrian Golan Heights

Because of the escalating encounters between Syrian rebels & gov’t forces, which left 2 UN soldiers wounded last week, Austria decided to pull out of the region and entered the protection of Israel.

Austrian troops made up the biggest contingent in the 1,000-strong UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).

By Reuters & Israel Hayom Staff

 

Austria has begun withdrawing peacekeepers from the Golan Heights, winding down a four-decade mission due to spillover fighting from the Syrian civil war, the Austrian Defense Ministry said.

Austrian U.N. peacekeepers withdrawing from Syria carry their belongings as they cross border between Israel and Syria at Quneitra on Wednesday – Photo: AP

A Reuters journalist stationed in the Golan Heights said Austrian troops had already moved from the Quneitra crossing point to a United Nations base inside the Israeli-held part of the heights on Tuesday.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| June 9, 2013
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UN Forces Have Proven Israel Cannot Depend On Them For Security

PM Netanyahu told Russia’s President Putin that Israel won’t fire at Syria if Syria doesn’t fire first.

The PM also said the Syrian conflict has repeatably demonstrated that Israel can’t depend on the UN for security in the Golan Heights.

By Chana Ya’ar

 

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told Russia’s President Vladimir Putin over the weekend that Israel will hold its fire against Syria – as long as Syria holds its fire against Israel.

In a statement at the opening of the government’s regular Sunday morning Cabinet meeting Netanyahu said he had discussed the situation with Putin in a phone conversation, warning him that “the situation is becoming daily more complex. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| June 8, 2013
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Assad Aide: Israel’s Elite Units Aiding Rebels

Assad’s top aide claims IDF special unit involved in Quneitra battles.

 

In Hezbollah TV interview, she claims Israel working with rebels, which she called ‘armed gangs’.

By Roi Kais

In an interview to the Hezbollah affiliated Al Mayadeen network, Bouthaina Shaaban, the top political and media adviser to Syrian President Bashar Assad, claimed that the injured transferred to Israel during the fighting in Quneitra were Israeli soldiers and not rebels, which she called “armed gangs”.

Bouthaina Shaaban, the top political and media adviser to Syrian President Bashar Assad

Bouthaina Shaaban, the top political and media adviser to Syrian President Bashar Assad – Photo AP

“When we hear that wounded from the armed gangs were transferred to Israel for medical treatment, I wonder whether these might be Mista’arvim” – the Border Guard’s elite counter-terrorism unit, comprised of officers disguised as Arabs. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: , , , ,
| June 8, 2013
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UN: No Russians Allowed in Golan Heights Force

The UN reported that Russia is banned from participating in the Golan Heights peacekeeping force, UNDOF.

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

The United Nations said on Friday that Russia cannot send troops to the Golan Heights peacekeeping force, after President Vladimir Putin said he was ready to bolster the force, AFP reported.

Russian soldiers march in Moscow

Russian soldiers march in Moscow

Putin offered troops after Austria decided to withdraw its 377 soldiers from the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) between Syria and Israel because of growing spillover from the Syria conflict.

However, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said later on Friday that Russia was banned from taking part in the force because it is one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
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