Israeli, tank, in, occupied, Golan, Heights. An Israeli tank maneuvers near the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Israel-occupied Golan Heights from Syria in the town of Majdal Shams on December 11. (AP Photo/) Matias Delacroix/AP
The United Nations has sent reinforcements to Syria in the wake of an incursion by Israeli forces across a five-decade ceasefire line rocked by the sudden fall of the Syrian government to an Islamist-led coalition of rebels, a U.N. diplomat in New York familiar with the issue told Newsweek.
The U.N. diplomat, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) had "reinforced a couple of their positions" over the past 24 hours in the Golan Heights, a disputed territory partially seized by Israel without international recognition in its 1967 war with Syria and later subject to a truce reached a year after their subsequent war fought in 1973.
The 1974 ceasefire agreement, enshrined in U.N. Security Council resolution 350, established an effective buffer zone in between the Israel-occupied and Syrian-controlled areas of the Golan Heights and established the UNDOF peacekeeping mission to patrol it.
The divided region has remained a flashpoint for nearly half a century, including throughout the ongoing 14-month war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement, which has been backed by Iran and its Axis of Resistance coalition, of which Syria was a member.
But with the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government on Saturday to a rapid rebel offensive, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched an invasion of southwestern Syria, seizing control of the buffer zone and launching a massive land, air and sea attack against various former Syrian military sites, including missile and drone sites, fighter jets, warships and chemical weapons stockpiles.
Since then, the U.N. official said that "the IDF has also moved personnel into the area," limiting the movements of U.N. peacekeepers in the Golan Heights.
"UNDOF's freedom of movement is severely constrained in the current context," the U.N. official said. "It is imperative that the UN peacekeepers are allowed carry out their mandated tasks without hinderance."
"The Mission has consistently called on all parties to maintain the ceasefire," the U.N. official added. "What is critical is for all parties to refrain from any actions in violation of the 1974 agreement on Disengagement and to respect UNDOF and its mandate."
The U.N., which has consistently condemned Israel's 1981 decision to annex the part of the Golan Heights it seized in 1967, has called on Israel to immediately cease military operations beyond the ceasefire lines.
"The peacekeepers at UNDOF informed the Israeli counterparts that these actions would constitute a violation of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement that there should be no military forces or activities in the area of separation," U.N. Secretary-General's Office spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said during a press briefing Monday, "and Israel and Syria must continue to uphold the terms of that 1974 agreement and preserve stability in the Golan."
In an address delivered from the Golan Heights the previous day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took credit for setting off the series of events that led to Assad's downfall through the IDF's "forceful action against Hezbollah and Iran," who backed the Syrian leader throughout his country's civil war that first erupted in 2011.
The Israeli premier referred to the IDF incursion into the Golan Heights buffer zone as a "temporary defensive position" taken because the 1974 ceasefire agreement had "collapsed" after Syrian troops abandoned their positions. He said he ordered the move "to ensure that no hostile force embeds itself right next to the border of Israel."
On Monday, the Israeli premier asserted that "the Golan Heights will be an inseparable part of the State of Israel forever."
While Netanyahu's message appeared to suggest a break in the ceasefire agreement first reached with Assad's late father, who ruled Syria from 1971 until his death in 2000, Israeli Permanent Representative to the U.N. Danny Dannon stated that his country "remained committed" to the 1974 truce deal in a letter sent to the U.N. Security Council on Monday.
Newsweek has reached out to the IDF and the Syrian Foreign Ministry for comment.
The U.N. official with whom Newsweek spoke said that UNDOF's mandate "has not changed" from the mission outlined in U.N. Security Council resolution 350, but "the reality is that in the current security context, they're observing and monitoring from static positions."
"It's important to stress that all of the positions that they have are still currently occupied," the U.N. official said. "None of them have been vacated and no personnel have been relocated or evacuated."
"They still will have their full complement of over 1300 uniform personnel," the U.N. official added. "And they're still reporting to UNHQ every day on what they see, and UNHQ is providing updates to Security Council on what they see on both sides, on the A line and the B line."
The A (Alpha) line refers to the Syrian side of the boundary, and the B (Bravo) side refers to the Israeli side. In between lies what's known as the area of separation.
Rebels, some of them receiving Israeli aid, had previously seized positions on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights at the onset of the country's civil war. The Syrian military regained full control of the frontier by 2018 with the support of Russia, Iran and allied Axis of Resistance militias, including the Lebanese Hezbollah movement and Iraq-based factions.
Throughout the conflict in Syria, the IDF has conducted airstrikes against suspected Iran-linked positions nationwide, including in the Golan Heights, from which rockets have occasionally been fired against Israel. Both sides ramped up hostilities since the regionwide conflict that erupted with the Hamas-led attack against Israel in October of last year.
The IDF had also recently begun reinforcing parts of the disputed Israel-Syria border after launching a ground incursion into neighboring Lebanon to battle Hezbollah in September. A November 27 ceasefire in Lebanon coincided with the beginning of the shock rebel offensive against Syria's northwestern city of Aleppo that ultimately led to loss of government control nationwide.
With the sudden unraveling of more than 50 years of Assad family rule in the span of a week and a half, the victorious rebel coalition has sought to quickly fill the vacuum. The most powerful group, the former Al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, swore in the head of its political wing, Mohammed al-Bashir, as prime minister of the new Syrian Transitional Government in Damascus on Tuesday.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, widely known by his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, also met Wednesday with leaders of other militias that seized control of southern Syria, including areas adjacent to the Golan Heights. Jolani and his now-ruling party have yet to comment publicly on the Israeli military operations.
However, former Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh, an Assad appointee who has been directed by the transitional government to continue work in his post as the new administration is formed, communicated with the Syrian Mission to the U.N. in order "to emphasize the need to respect Syria's sovereignty and the unity and integrity of its territories in light of the Israeli violation of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement, and its air aggression on Syrian territory" in a statement published Tuesday by the Syrian Foreign Ministry.
Also on Tuesday, IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani sought to dispel what he called "fake news" that Israeli forces were allegedly closing in on the Syrian capital during a press briefing Tuesday.
Shoshani did, however, acknowledge that there were "a few additional points" on both the Israeli and Syrian sides of the buffer zone in which the IDF was operating "to make sure that stability is kept."
"I've seen IDF troops sitting on the Israeli side with UNDOF soldiers peacefully, peacefully doing their jobs next to them," Shoshani said. "It seemed like they were very comfortable with what was happening. The IDF forces were not trying to reach anywhere. They were just making sure that the peace was kept in that area."
Shoshani also emphasized that "we are not involved in what's happening in Syria internally" and that the IDF was not on a side in this conflict, and we do not have any interest other than protecting our borders and the security of our civilians."
The IDF reported Wednesday that "four brigade combat teams, including infantry, commando, engineering, armor, reconnaissance, and Yahalom Unit forces, are engaged in defensive missions under the command of the 210th Division" in the Golan Heights, including the area of separation.
Israeli personnel were said to be involved in the confiscation of abandoned Syrian military weapons, including tanks, as well as "targeting threats and terrorist sites along the border."
"Our mission is clear-protecting the residents of the Golan Heights and all Israeli civilians," the commanding officer of the 210th Division was quoted by the IDF as saying.
President Joe Biden's administration, which has not reversed the decision of its predecessor and soon-to-be successor, President-elect Donald Trump, to recognize Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights, has also weighed in on its ally's operations in Syria.
Speaking during a press call Tuesday, National Security Council Communications Director John Kirby said that the United States recognized the stated Israeli objectives "to eliminate what they believe are imminent threats to their security." At the same time, he said "we still support" the 1974 ceasefire agreement prohibiting military activities in the Golan Heights buffer zone.
"What we want to see from all actors inside Syria or outside Syria are actions that help the Syrian people get to governance that they can believe in and governance that meets their aspirations," Kirby said.
"We don't want to see any actor inside or outside take actions or do things or espouse policies or programs that run afoul of that process," he added.
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This story was originally published December 11, 2024, 2:57 PM.