Israel Transferred Aid to Syrians Seeking Refuge Near Border in Overnight Mission
The Israeli army said on Friday that it transferred overnight humanitarian aid to Syrians fleeing fighting in Syria and to those currently living in makeshift encampments not far from the border with Israel.
The shipment was made to camps in the south and center of the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. These camps, the army said, are located along the border and are currently housing a few thousand Syrians fleeing fighting in the Daraa region. According to the UN, over 120,000 Syrians have fled the area in recent days.
>> Assad Preparing to Retake Southwest Syria and Israel Will Have to Decide Whether to Intervene
The army said the living conditions in the camps were dire, with no access to electricity, water or food. The army also said that recent days have seen a rise in the number of Syrians living in the encampments.
skip
– Makeshift encampments housing Syrians fleeing from Daraa, as seen from the Israeli side of the Golan Heights. June 29, 2018
Israel transferred aid to Syrians seeking refuge near border in overnight mission – דלג
Israel transferred aid to Syrians seeking refuge near border in overnight mission
According to a statement by the IDF, aid was transferred to four different sites on the Syrian side of the Golan during the operation. They said over 300 tents, 13 tons of food, 15 tons of baby formula and three large shipments of medical equipment and clothing had been delivered.
Keep updated: Sign up to our newsletter
Email*
Please enter a valid email address
Sign up
Please wait…
Thank you for signing up.
We’ve got more newsletters we think you’ll find interesting.
Click here
Oops. Something went wrong.
Please try again later.
Try again
Thank you,
The email address you have provided is already registered.
Close
Israel is monitoring developments in southern Syria while it is preparing for various scenarios, including continued humanitarian assistance to fleeing Syrians. The IDF will not allow Syrians fleeing the country into Israel and will continue to defend Israel’s national security interests, the army said.
The IDF has been providing life-saving humanitarian assistance, alongside a non-intervention policy, for a number of years during the international conflict in Syria, the army said in a statement.
The Syrian media reported that tens of thousands of people have fled the Daraa region due to heavy airstrikes against the rebels by the Syrian and Russian air forces. Many residents have headed south to the Jordanian border, but Jordan isn’t letting them enter.
Makeshift encampments housing Syrians fleeing from Daraa, as seen from the Israeli side of the Golan Heights. June 29, 2018Gil Eliyahu
Media outlets reported on Thursday night that hundreds of Daraa residents had also gone westward, to the Syrian portion of the Golan, which is fairly close to the Israeli border. In some places, they already set up tents.
The IDF raised Thursday its alert level in the Golan Heights in light of the recent escalation in the fighting in southern Syria between the Assad regime and rebel militias and the Syrian army’s increasing proximity to the Israeli border.
skip
– Daraa
DaraaGoogle Maps
Israel isn’t expecting a direct confrontation with the Syrian army, but it is preparing for possibility of spillover effects from the regime’s attack, with Russian and Iranian assistance, on the Daraa region, which is just sixty kilometers from the Israeli border.
IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot flew to Washington on Thursday for a quick meeting with his U.S. counterpart. On Sunday, the security cabinet will meet to discuss the home front’s preparedness for a war in the north.
Eisenkot’s meeting with the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford, was arranged over the past few days. The two will mainly discuss events in Syria, as well as their countries’ joint effort to restrain Iran’s military intervention in the region.