DAMASCUS (Palestine Foundation Information Center) Israeli occupation forces have advanced into the town of Al-Hurriya in Quneitra province, southern Syria, while a UN source confirmed that these forces are obstructing the work of UN peacekeepers in the occupied Golan Heights.
Al Jazeera in Syria reported that residents of the town said that the occupation forces asked them to evacuate their homes with the aim of annexing the town to the buffer zones near the border strip between Syria and 1948 occupied Palestine (Israel).
Residents noted that the occupation forces carried out forced evacuations in the village of “Rasm al-Rawadi” in Quneitra after advancing up to five kilometers into some areas.
In a related context, the American magazine “Newsweek” reported that the United Nations sent reinforcements to Syria following the Israeli forces’ incursion into the area of the ceasefire line that has been in place for nearly fifty years.
A UN diplomatic source confirmed that the UN Disengagement Observer Force has reinforced its positions in the Golan Heights. He explained that the Israeli army has transferred forces to the area, significantly restricting the movement of peacekeeping forces and hindering their operational tasks.
After the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the cancellation of the disengagement agreement with Syria established in 1974. He also ordered the deployment of Israeli forces in the buffer zone in the Golan, which separates the occupied part of the heights from the rest of Syrian territory.
In recent days, the Israeli army has launched hundreds of airstrikes on Syria, targeting alleged chemical weapon depots, air defense systems, ammunition storage facilities, and naval military targets.
In a UN commentary, an international expert described these airstrikes as “entirely illegal,” affirming that they have no basis in international law and considered them an extension of the Israeli policy in Syria over the past decade.
For his part, George Katrougalos, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion of democratic system, said that what Israel is doing “falls within a recurring pattern of disrespect for international law.” He added: “These attacks, which were not preceded by any provocation, constitute a violation of the sovereignty of an independent state.”
