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IDF New Unit to Confront Threats on Syrian Border | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Druze men look at smoke rising on the Israeli-controlled side of the line dividing the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria following fighting near the Quneitra border crossing, August 27, 2014. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun


Tel Aviv- Beirut- The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Sunday the formation of a special new unit charged with developing ties with Syrians living near Israel’s northern border. Forming the special unit was based on the evaluation Israel made on current Syria state-of-affairs, which were deemed severely unhinged, military sources reported.

The new IDF unit is an operation similar to that conducted during Israel’s presence in southern Lebanon, in the 70s, when the IDF worked to build ties with elements of the Lebanese population.

Sources further confirmed that during the past few years of the Syrian civil war, Israel had maintained effective – but low- activity and relationships with the Syrian conflict’s parties.

However, Israel kept action limited as to keep from going way too deep into the conflict in Syria.

A military source denied that the Israeli intervention at the Golan Heights would be drawn out of the Lebanese experience. Circumstances are different in Syria, the source said.

The same sources reported the IDF expanding range and intensifying its activities. The establishment of centers located inside the Golan Heights as to reach out to locals, aiming to inhibit the war ravaging in Syria from entering Israel, is underway.

On the contrary, Israeli military expert Alex Fishman drew similarities between the current happening and the case of Lebanon in 1967. What had started out as transferring humanitarian aid, in time, became a consistent and steady unit for communication.

Fishman adds that through the ties forged with Golan residents Israel had secured peace across borders with Syria. The humanitarian aid pumped into the area had definitely cut the way of the Syrian Civil War slipping through borders into Israel.

Much like the stakes prior to the war in Lebanon, where PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) cells operated freely across much of the Lebanese-Israel frontier, Israeli security officials fear the chaos along the Israeli-Syrian border could give ISIS – or Iran – the perfect opportunity to strike northern Israel.

On the other Hand, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) confirmed an international decision and a plot focused on closing down Aleppo, in order to weaken the Syrian Opposition.

Draining down the Syrian Opposition comes prior to the anticipated peace talks in Geneva. Once the Syrian Opposition is blockaded in Aleppo, the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Kurdish Democratic Union Party will consequentially receive a better standing, which would force their participation at the negotiations, in a preparation to divide Syria.