Hmmm.... UPDATED
No confirmation on this yet.
But here's another source with a few more details (see the comments too).
UPDATE SUNDAY 2:22 PM
It turns out they were after an Israeli Arab who
paraglided over the border into Syria, probably to join ISIS. Once the IDF concluded he went there of his own free will,
they withdrew.
Labels: Golan Heights, IDF, Nusra Front, Quneitra, Syria, Syrian uprising
Report: Israel coordinating with Syrian rebels
A report in al-Monitor claims that Sunday's Israeli strike on the Golan Heights is the result of
coordination between Israel and the Syrian rebels.
According to a UN report covering the period from March to May 2014,
the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) detected contact between rebels and the Israeli army
across the Golan cease-fire line, particularly during fierce clashes
between the Syrian army and the rebels. The report also confirmed that
the UN forces spotted rebels transporting 89 wounded across the
cease-fire line into the Israeli occupied zone, where they were handed
over 19 people who had received medical treatment in addition to two
dead. The UN forces also noted that the Israeli army delivered two boxes
to rebels on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.
Communications increased between rebels and the Israeli army before the eruption of the southern front in Daraa and Quneitra in September, according to Quneitra opposition activist Mohammad Qasim, a pseudonym due to the sensitivity of the subject.
Qasim, who was active in a support capacity to the rebels during the
September offensive, told Al-Monitor via Skype, “The battle to capture
Quneitra on Sept. 27 was preceded by coordination and communications
between Abu Dardaa, a leader of Jabhat al-Nusra, and the Israeli army to
pave the way for the attack. And according to an FSA commander who
partly participated
in this battle, the Israeli army provided Abu Dardaa with maps of the
border area and the Syrian army’s strategic posts in the southern area.”
The rebels’ battle, led by al-Qaeda’s affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, to
control the Quneitra crossing took place in coordination with the
Israeli army through Abu Dardaa, according to Qasim. He added, “During
the clashes, the Israelis heavily bombarded many of the regime’s posts,
shot down a warplane that was trying to impede the progress of the
fighters and targeted other aircraft.”
The media reported that on Sept. 23, Israel downed a MiG-21
Syrian military aircraft over the occupied Golan Heights during the
intensification of fighting between rebel fighters led by Jabhat
al-Nusra and the Syrian army.
There's much more -
read the whole thing. 'Qasim' is not too happy about the coordination with Israel, and neither is the other person they interview in the article. But this is the Middle East, and my enemy's enemy is my friend.
Labels: Bashar al-Assad, Free Syrian Army, Golan Heights, IDF, Nusra Front, Quneitra, Syria
Confirmed: 6 Revolutionary Guards, 5 Hezbullah members, including Jihad Mughniyah killed in IAF strike, Hezbullah mobilizing
Lebanese sources are now confirming that six Iranian Revolutionary Guards and five Hezbullah members were
killed in an IAF air strike on Sunday. The Hezbullah members included Jihad Mughniyah, the son of Imad Mughniyah, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards included Iranian commander
Abu Ali al-Tabtabani, the commander of operations in the Golan.
Jihad Moughniyah was killed with four other members of Hezbollah when
his convoy was hit, the sources said. His father, who was on the United
States’ most wanted list for attacks on Israeli and Western targets,
was assassinated in Damascus in 2008.
Hezbollah issued a statement in which it admitted that 5 of its
members were killed including commander Mohammad Issa from ArabSalim.
6 members of the Iranian Revolutionary guards were also reportedly killed in the strike according to Lebanese media reports.
Hezbollah issued a statement after the incident :
“The Israeli enemy’s helicopters fired missiles at a group of
Hezbollah’s fighters who were inspecting the town of Mazraat al-Amal in
the Syrian Quneitra region,” Hizbullah’s media department announced in
the statement.
The strike “resulted in the martyrdom of a number of jihadist
brothers, whose names will be announced later, after informing their
honorable families,” the Hezbollah statement added.
Al-Jadeed ( New) television for its part said “Iranian commander Abu
Ali al-Tabtabani was among the martyrs of the Israeli raid on Golan.”
The original Hezbullah announcement in Arabic may be found
here.
The Hezbullah death toll has been
raised to nine.
Hezbullah chieftain Hassan Nasrallah is scheduled to give a speech later tonight in which he will announce that
Hezbullah will retaliate against Israel.
1 hour ago
Information obtained by MTV: Nasrallah will tonight deliver a
speech in which he will announce that Hizbullah will retaliate against
Israel with a painful strike.
Bring it on, you fat pig. We're ready for you.
Labels: al-Qaeda, Golan Heights, Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbullah, IAF, Imad Mughniyah, Lebanon, Nusra Front, Quneitra, Syria
Breaking: Israeli strike in Syria targeted head of Hezbullah's Syria operations
A short while ago, I reported that Israeli helicopters had
attacked al-Nusra forces on the Golan Heights. It now appears that there was a target there: The head of Hezbullah's operations in Syria.
By the way, the
son of Hezbullah terrorist Imad Mughniyah - who was allegedly killed by Israel himself - was also killed in Sunday's strike in the Golan Heights.
Two sources close to Hezbollah said that the son of former Hezbollah military leader Imad Mughniyeh was killed in the strike.
Mughniyeh was killed in 2008 in a car-bombing widely attributed to Israel in the foreign media.
AFP
cited an Israeli security sources as saying the strike had targeted
purported terrorists who were planning an attack on the Jewish state.
The IDF said in response that it does not comment on foreign reports and Syrian state media did not mention the attack.
Hmmm.
Labels: al-Qaeda, Golan Heights, Hezbullah, IAF, Imad Mughniyah, Nusra Front, Quneitra, Syria
IAF choppers bomb al-Qaeda positions on Golan Heights
IAF helicopters fired missiles at troops from the Jabhat al-Nusra front - affiliated with al-Qaeda - on the Golan Heights on Sunday afternoon, after the Islamic terrorists were seen
laying charges along Syria's border with Israel.
According to Al Manar, two rockets were fired at a target in Mazraat al-Amal near Quneitra.
Meanwhile, Al Mayadeen TV said that the missiles were launched by an IAF aircraft, without specifying that it was a helicopter.
Western security sources said that the missiles were fired at a team
of terrorists who had begun laying explosive charges on the Syria-Israel
border near Quneitra.
No casualties have been reported as of yet.
According to the report, shortly before the IAF struck, two drones
were seen circling above the area, apparently to collect intelligence.
Mazraat al-Amal is located in the Syrian Golan, near the border with
Israel, and recent reports said that Jabhat al-Nusra forces were
occupying it.
The IDF refused to confirm or deny the report of the strike and said that it “does not respond to reports in foreign media.”
Earlier in the day, it was reported that Israeli forces fired smoke
grenades and tear gas toward Lebanese territory. Three Lebanese soldiers
were taken to a hospital for treatment following that incident.
None of our borders are anything like the US border with Canada....
Labels: al-Qaeda, Golan Heights, IAF, Nusra Front, Quneitra
Israel shoots down drone from Syria
The IDF used a Patriot missile to
shoot down a Syrian drone over the Golan Heights on Sunday. The drone belonged to the Assad regime and the IDF believes that it's entry into Israel was accidental.
Forces fired a surface-to-air Patriot missile at the drone, which
came from the area of Quneitra - which has seen fierce clashes between
Syrian rebels and regime forces.
The Israel Defense Forces told the Associated Press that the drone appeared to have belonged to the Syrian military and had flown accidentally into Israeli airspace.
The IDF said that the drone was identified in Israel's air space and
shot down by a ground-to-air Patriot missile. The IDF "will respond to
any breach of Israel's sovereignty," Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said.
It is not clear whether the drone was carrying explosives or was sent
to photograph aerial images. It is also not clear whether the aircraft
was intentionally launched at Israel, or if it was sent in Israel's
direction by mistake.
Hmmm.
Labels: Bashar al-Assad, drone, Golan Heights, Quneitra, Syria
Al-Qaeda now just across the border in Syria
What could go wrong?
Labels: al-Qaeda, Daniel Gordis, Golan Heights, Quneitra, Syrian uprising
Syrian jets fly along Israeli border, IAF scrambled
Syrian war jets bombed a 'refugee camp' in Quneitra on the Golan Heights, coming
close enough to the Israeli border on Friday afternoon to cause IAF jets to be scrambled in response.
The attacks on Quneitra, the only crossing along the Israeli-Syrian
border in the Golan Heights, raised concerns in Israel, reports Channel 10.
In response, the IDF stepped up preparations along the border, and
sent out IAF planes to provide an air presence in the area and deter any
encroachments on Israeli sovereign airspace.
The sites struck by Syria include a refugee camp in the Daraa region
of southern Syria, which was being built by rebel forces opposing Syrian
President Bashar Assad's regime.
Arabic media sources have reported that Assad's regime views the
rebel refugee camp as a "declaration of local independence," leading to
the strike to destroy the site.
The Quneitra crossing was recaptured by Syrian army forces last June after briefly falling into opposition hands.
I don't expect Assad to try anything on us right now, but he needs to be reminded of that once in a while.
Labels: Bashar al-Assad, Golan Heights, Quneitra, Syrian army, Syrian uprising
Quneitra burning
Here's an image of Quneitra burning earlier on Thursday, as seen for Majd al-Shams, a Druse village on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights.
Quneitra was overrun by Syria rebels earlier on Thursday.
Fortunately, since the Assad's
turned it into a ghost town when Israel gave it to them in 1974, there shouldn't be any civilians there to murder.
More images
here (Hat Tip:
Patkin Leonidovna via
Twitter).
Labels: Bashar al-Assad, Free Syrian Army, Golan Heights, Nusra Front, Quneitra, Syria, Syrian uprising
Syrian rebels overrun Quneitra crossing point with Israel
The IDF has confirmed that
Syrian rebels now control the Syrian side of the Quneitra border crossing with Israel on the Golan Heights after defeating Bashar al-Assad's troops on Thursday morning.
Israeli military sources told Army
Radio in recent weeks that a takeover of the Quneitra crossing by rebels
would constitute a major turning point in Jerusalem’s attitude toward
the conflict ravaging its neighbor to the northeast.
Earlier on
Thursday, a mortar shell landed at a United Nations base in Quneitra,
just a few hundred meters from the border fence separating Israel and
Syria, according to media reports Thursday.
Israel Radio reported
that soldiers loyal to Assad were engaged in fierce gun battles with
rebels near the border fence. The Israeli military has instructed
agrarians on the Golan Heights to keep away from the border fence area
near Quneitra.
In addition, authorities have banned civilians
from entering Kibbutz Ein Zivan, a communal settlement that lies
hundreds of meters away from the border fence, according to Israel
Radio.
Alex Shalom, an Israeli farmer from the Golan Heights, said he saw
heavy smoke rising from the crossing and Israeli military ambulances
evacuating people from the site.
An Israeli military spokeswoman
said the area leading to Quneitra had been closed off, but gave no other
details on the fighting.
Officials from the United Nations
Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which operates the base, could not
be reached for comment.
Despite the Israeli government's best efforts to keep out of this war, it's pretty likely that the IDF will react much more strongly to 'incidents' along the border with the rebels in control than it would have with Assad in control.
Labels: Bashar al-Assad, Free Syrian Army, Golan Heights, Nusra Front, Quneitra, Syria, Syrian uprising, UNDOF
