BICOM

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday addressed the ongoing violence and uncertainty near the country’s border with Syria on the Golan Heights. Speaking at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu reiterated that “Israel is not intervening in the Syrian civil war as long as fire is not being directed at us.” On several occasions over the past few months, mortar and gunfire has landed on Israeli territory, prompting Israeli forces to return fire.

However, Netanyahu gave particular attention to the “battles close to our border on the Golan Heights” last week, when fighting took place between opposition forces and Syrian government troops at the border town of Quneitra, just dozens of metres from Israeli military positions. The violence led to Austria’s decision to withdraw its troops from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) of peacekeepers on the Israel-Syria border, leading to fears that the force could collapse entirely. Netanyahu said yesterday, “The crumbling of the UN force on the Golan Heights underscores the fact that Israel cannot depend on international forces for its security…They can be part of the arrangements. They cannot be the basic foundation of Israel’s security.” Indeed, the uncertainty surrounding UNDOF will likely cast doubt over suggestions that an international force could play a role in implementing any future Israeli-Palestinian peace accord.

Yediot Ahronot this morning reports that Syrian opposition fighters have twice entered unspecified Israeli “sites” on the Golan Heights over the last ten days and that the movements were closely observed by the IDF without any action being taken. Meanwhile, in Syria itself, the Telegraph reports that President Assad’s forces and its ally Hezbollah will soon launch an offensive to regain the major city of Aleppo. The Times and Independent say that an anti-Hezbollah protestor was killed by Hezbollah supporters at a demonstration outside the Iranian embassy in Lebanon.