Israel Matzav

UN observers to cut and run from Syrian border?

Countries were already withdrawing troops from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) before 21 Fillipino troops were kidnapped by Syrian rebels earlier this week. Japan and Canada have withdrawn their troops in recent months, and Croatia is planning to do so soon, since it was revealed that the Croatians have been providing weapons to the Syrian rebels. Will anyone be left?

Curiously, this article says something very different than the article to which it links.

The Star cites the Israeli press, saying "There is concern that al-Qaeda will take over this buffer zone and the villages near Israel," within the 80-kilometer strip of land which is between half a kilometer and 10 kilometers wide.

But that sentence no longer appears in the Beirut Daily Star article that is linked.

There is a real fear here that UNDOF will leave, like the peacekeepers on the Egyptian border did in 1967, and like EUBAN did when Hamas took over Gaza in 2007. The Golan may be the most militarized border in the world, but it has also been our most quiet one for the last 40 years. 

I have no answers. While Syria does not have an air force to speak about, terrorists hiding out along the border is not a pretty prospect.

Labels: Bashar al-Assad, Free Syrian Army, Golan Heights, Syrian uprising

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:36 AM