The
Sunday Independent has now established from senior sources that Irish
soldiers would have been killed or taken hostage by Islamist extremists
if it wasn't for the military intervention of the Israeli army during
last week's battle to save besieged UN soldiers.
...
Senior
sources said that there would "almost certainly" have been UN
casualties or deaths if it wasn't for the help given by the Israeli
military, which has posts on high ground overlooking the UN observer
bases in Quneitra. The Israeli assistance was described as "decisive" in
the success of the mission.
The Israelis were able to guide the
Irish-led rescue troops and help it avoid concentrations of the more
heavily armed al-Nusra force. There are also unconfirmed reports that
the Israelis directed fire at the Islamists to stop them from attacking
the Filipino and Irish soldiers.
And the entire UNDOF enterprise now appears to be in danger.
A replacement contingent for the 130 Irish troops in the Golan Heights is still preparing to travel before the end of the month.
However, that could change if the government of the Philippines carries out its threat to withdraw its 331 troops from early next month.
The
Filipino military is enraged at the UN, and has claimed that it ordered
the troops to surrender to the Islamists, endangering their lives.
The Philippines government and military allege that a detachment of 41 Fijian soldiers who did surrender to the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Brigade were only captured after they obeyed a UN order to surrender. Their whereabouts are unknown.
In a statement on Friday, al-Nusra, which has carried out atrocities in Syria, said it was going to try the Fijian soldiers before a Sharia court.
The
Filipinos refused to surrender and after a gun battle with the
Islamists, and supported by the Irish troops, they managed to break the
siege with no loss of life.
Al-Qaeda linked Syrian rebel group to try peacekeepers under 'divine law'
The al-Qaeda linked al-Nusra rebel group in Syria says that it's going to try 45 Fijian UNDOF soldiers it captured on the Golan Heights 'under divine law.'
Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights, said that the commander of Al-Nusra Front has declared that the
45 peacekeepers will be tried under "divine law," according to Asharq Al-Aswat as cited by Yedioth Aharonoth.
It was revealed on Monday that the rebels issued three demands
for the release of the peacekeepers: to be taken off the UN terrorist
list, delivery of humanitarian aid to parts of the Syrian capital
Damascus, and compensation for three of its fighters it says were killed
in a shootout with UN officers.
In response, the 15 members of the UN Security Council on
Wednesday demanded the "immediate and unconditional release" of the
Fijians, denouncing their abduction "in the strongest terms."
The statement added that "there can never be any justification
for attacks on or the detention of UN peacekeepers." Fiji has issued a
similar statement calling for the release of its soldiers.
In addition to the 45 Fijian troops, 72 Filipino troops were surrounded by the rebel forces; however, the two units of soldiers from the Philippines managed to escaped over the weekend into Israel.
Very nice that the Security Council responded so 'forcefully,' but will their words be backed up with action? Don't hold your breath.
A group of Philippine UNDOF (United Nations Disengagement Observer Force) peacekeepers that was captured by Syrian rebels has escaped to Israel. (The picture is from over a year ago).
Thirty-two UN peacekeepers were rescued from Islamist militants who had fired on their post on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights on Saturday, the United Nations said.
Another group of UN soldiers - also from the Philippines - remained trapped by the Islamists who surrounded their positions on Thursday, and a gun battle was ongoing, the UN press office said.
...
A Reuters cameraman spotted 11 UN armored vehicles returning to their base in Israeli-controlled territory about 12 hours after the peacekeepers came under fire at around 6 a.m. (0400 GMT) on Saturday.
"All 32 Filipino personnel from this position have been extricated and are now safe," the United Nations press office said in a statement issued in New York.
The remaining troops, at a separate border post, were still under mortar and heavy machine gun fire, the statement said.
"The UN peacekeepers returned fire and prevented the attackers from entering the position," it said. Officials in the Philippines have said there were a total of 72 soldiers trapped in the area.
Another 44 UNDOF peacekeepers, from Fiji, were detained by militants 8 km (5 miles) away from the Philippine troops on Thursday and remain missing.
According to reports in Syria, dozens of UN peacekeepers from the
Philippines who had been holed up in two military positions in the
Syrian Golan escaped io Israel Saturday. The border gates were opened up
to let them in.
They had been surrounded by Syrian rebels from the Nusra Front.
Filipino UN peacekeepers in the Golan Heights clashed with
Syrian rebels Saturday, Defense Minister Voltaire Gazmin said in Manila.
He said in an SMS statement to reporters that the Filipino troops had
been "extricated" from one of their two positions but added that
another group of Filipino soldiers "is now under attack".
He was referring to two positions on the Golan Heights where more
than 70 Filipino troops had previously been surrounded by Syrian rebels.
The peacekeepers were besieged by rebels on Thursday but defied
demands that they give up their weapons. On Friday Syrian fighters took
43 Fijian soldiers hostage on the Golan Heights.
Asked if there was a fresh firefight Saturday, Gazmin replied: "Yes".
He said the clash took place at "6am, Syria time," but added that "morale is high" among the troops.
Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala later told AFP that "there is still an ongoing standoff but there was a firefight earlier today".
"All our troops are safe," he said, adding that the defense minister
and head of the military were monitoring developments. He declined to
elaborate further on the incident.
The Fijians are the ones who are really in trouble. They gave up their weapons.
Islamist Nusra Front kidnaps UN peacekeepers on Golan Heights
Syrian rebels from the al-Nusra front in the Golan Heights have kidnapped 40 Philippine peacekeepers from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force between Israel and Syria.
The al-Arabiya network
reported that militants fighting with Jabhat al-Nusra, affiliated with
al-Qaeda, kidnapped soldiers of the UN Disengagement Observer Force
(UNDOF) in the Golan Heights. According to reports, those abducted
include 40 soldiers of Philippine origin.
Meanwhile, Irish forces in the same group are reported to be hunkered down, but safe.
Irish soldiers with #UNDOF on Golan Heights in 'Groundhog' over fierce clashes in their AO. All personnel safe, but it's clearly hairy.
— Michael O'Toole (@mickthehack) August 27, 2014
And this is really likely to convince other countries to send their troops to this area as 'peacekeeping forces'....
Video: Opening of IDF field hospital in the Philippines, first baby named Israel
Video of the IDF's field hospital opening its services to those in need
in Bogo City, the Philippines. They will be providing medical aid as
well as search-and-rescue services to those affected by Typhoon Haiyan.
The IDF has set up a field hospital on the typhoon-ravished island of Cebu in the Philippines. The field hospital will ultimately be capable of treating 1,500 patients per day.
The IDFdelegation to the Philippines
landed Thursday morning in the island of Cebu, where the delegation
intends to form a field hospital that could tend to up to 1,500 patients
a day.
At the same time, the delegation will assist local medical services in resuming normalcy.
Head of the delegation,
Colonel Ramtin Sefati, said that "Local authorities have asked us to
assist with restoring the function of local schools since they, as many
facilities, were left without electricity or running water."
The UN reported Thursday the typhoon
that ravaged the Philippines has killed 4,460 people. The world body
said it received confirmation on the death toll from a government
agency.
...
The UN added that some 920,000 people were displaced by the storm and a total of 11.8 million people have been affected.
Rescue personnel with Israeli delegations said that work was conducted under challenging conditions, lacking security, food, supplies and communication. Within the next 24 hours an additional medical team is scheduled to leave Israel for the Philippines.
It looks like I'd better learn to spell Philippines (one l, two p's and not the other way around). The IDF is sending 148 members of its search and rescue team to the island nation on Wednesday, after a smaller group arrived to assess the country's needs earlier this week.
An advanced multi-department medical facility, equipped with approximately 100 tons of humanitarian
and medical supplies from Israel, will be rapidly established in the
city of Tacloban to provide medical care for disaster casualties. The
facility will be constructed of a children’s department, a women’s department, an ambulatory care department, and a general admission department, operated by IDF doctors, nurses, paramedics, pharmacists, mental health professionals, x-ray technician, and lab workers.
The delegation comprises of officials in the National Search and Rescue Unit
of the Home Front Command headed by the unit commander, Colonel Ramtin
Sabti, as well as senior doctors in the IDF Medical Corps, headed by the
Vice Surgeon General of the IDF Medical Corps, Colonel Doctor Dudu
Dagan.
Yesterday, Monday, November 11, 2013, a lead expedition of five search, rescue, and medical experts arrived in Tacloban, Philippines and
formed a situation assessment determining the urgency for a rapid IDF
response. Based on this assessment the of the Chief of the General
Staff, Lieutenant General Benjamin (Benny) Gantz, order to deploy a
large-scale delegation to the disaster zone.
Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, IDF Spokesman: “The Home Front Command has
soldiers and officers who excel in the fields of search and rescue and
highly professional medical doctors experienced in such complex
missions. Over the years they have been to Japan,Haiti, Ghana, Bulgaria, and Turkey, where they diligently donated from their resources and knowledge to those in need.”
This country is amazing when it comes to this sort of thing.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
