Exclusive: Israel Is Tending to

Wounded Syrian Rebels

BY COLUM LYNCH-JUNE 11, 2014
Israel is quietly cultivating ties with moderate Syrian rebel groups operating
along the country's !"!#monitored cease#$ire line with Syria% providing medical care and other
unidenti$ied supplies to the insurgents while potentially extracting a valuable vein o$
intelligence on the activities o$ &resident 'ashar al#(ssad's army as well as extremist
opposition $orces within Syria!
In the past three months% battle#hardened Syrian rebels have transported scores o$ wounded
Syrians across a cease#$ire line that has separated Israel $rom Syria since )*+,% according to a
)-#page report by !"! Secretary#.eneral 'an /i#moon on the wor0 o$ the !"!
1isengagement 2bserver 3orce 4UNDOF5! 2nce in Israel% they receive medical treatment in a
$ield clinic be$ore being sent bac0 to Syria% where% presumably% some will return to carry on the
$ight!
!"! blue helmets responsible $or monitoring the decades#old cease#$ire report observing
armed opposition groups 6trans$erring 7* wounded persons6 $rom Syrian territory into Israel%
where they were received by members o$ the Israel 1e$ense 3orces% according to the report!
The I13 returned 8) Syrians to armed opposition members bac0 in Syria% including the bodies
o$ two who died!
6Throughout the reporting period% "123 $requently observed armed members o$ the
opposition interacting with the I13 across the cease#$ire line%6 according to the report! 62n one
occasion "123 observed the I13 on the (lpha side 9inside Israel: handing over two boxes to
armed opposition on the 'ravo side 9inside Syria:!6
!"! o$$icials worry that rising instability in the cease#$ire ;one could ultimately threaten the
uneasy peace along the Syria#Israel line o$ separation! (lthough the cease#$ire between Israel
and Syria has largely held% Israeli $orces on <arch )7 and )* $ired on Syrian troops% 0illing two
Syrian soldiers and wounding )+ others% mar0ing the 6most signi$icant violation6 o$ the truce in
its ,=#year history! Israel says it $ired on the Syrian position in response to the Syrians'
placement o$ an improvised explosive device that in>ured $our Israeli soldiers% one seriously!
6The ongoing military activities in the area o$ separation continue to have the potential to
heighten tensions between Israel and the Syrian (rab Republic and to >eopardi;e the cease#$ire
between the two countries% in addition to heightening the ris0 to nited "ations personnel%6
'an wrote! 6I call on the government o$ the Syrian (rab Republic to stop the use o$ airstri0es%
which cause su$$ering to the civilian population%6 'an wrote! 6I also once again condemn the
horri$ic atrocities committed by some armed members o$ the opposition!6
The Israeli government has been providing medical assistance to Syria's wounded $or more
than a year! In 3ebruary% &rime <inister 'en>amin "etanyahu paid a visit to a military $ield
hospital in the .olan ?eights in a tour aimed at contrasting Israel's humanitarianism with that
o$ Iran% one o$ Syria's military bac0ers% claiming it was arming% $inancing% and training Syrian
$orces responsible $or 0illing and wounding Syrian civilians!
@t! Aol! &eter @erner% a spo0esman $or the I13% said the Israeli government has provided
medical assistance to more than )%=== Syrians over the past ), months! 6We give medical aid
to people who are in dire need%6 he said in a telephone interview! 6We don't do any vetting or
chec0 where they are $rom or which group they are $ighting $or% or whether they are civilians!6
@erner said that Israeli $orces have a 0ind o$ 6gentleman's agreement6 with Syrians across the
border to alert Israeli $orces that they intend to deliver their wounded! 'ut he said that Israel's
cooperation with Syrians is strictly medical and humanitarian! 6The Israeli policy o$
noninvolvement in Syria is what binds us%6 he said! 62ur primary mission is to de$end the
border $rom potential spillover o$ the civil war into Israel $rom the Syrian .olan ?eights!6
Ehud Baari% an Israeli $ellow at the Washington Institute $or "ear East &olicy and an expert on
the .olan ?eights% said that Israel is supplying Syrian villages with medicines% heaters% and
other humanitarian supplies! The assistance% he said% has bene$ited civilians and insurgents!
6The wounded are both $ighters and civilians but there are not too many civilians le$t because
o$ the $ighting raging there%6 he said! 6Alose to *== Syrians have been treated in Israel% so you
should assume the operation is going $lawlessly! It would be not wrong to assume there is some
sort o$ coordination going on with the armed rebels on the ground!6
The Israeli assistance is only a single piece o$ a broader international e$$ort% including by the
nited States% to lend support to so#called local Syrian opposition groups in southern Syria
$ighting $orces loyal to (ssad! The nited States% Cordan% Saudi (rabia% and other governments
are coordinating military support out o$ a >oint operations center in (mman% Cordan! In a recent
address to cadets at West &oint <ilitary (cademy% &resident 2bama pledged that the !S!
would step up its help! 6I will wor0 with Aongress to ramp up support $or those in the Syrian
opposition who o$$er the best alternative to terrorists and a brutal dictator!6
The primary goal o$ international assistance% according to Coshua @andis% an expert on Syria at
the niversity o$ 20lahoma% has shi$ted $rom toppling the regime to undercutting the in$luence
o$ extremist >ihadist groups% such as the al#"usra 3ront% an al Daeda a$$iliate% and the power$ul
Islamic State o$ Iraq and Syria% or ISIS% whose $ighters recently crossed into Iraq and abruptly
conquered <osul% the country's second#largest city! The West is also trying to create a 6bu$$er
;one6 that prevents Syria#based extremists $rom ta0ing up positions along the border with
Israel and Cordan!
6They are worried about >ihadists on their border and they want to 0now what's going on%6 said
@andis! The 6quid pro quo%6 he said% is that i$ the less radical rebels want guns and other $orms
o$ assistance% 6they have to cleanse the >ihadists $rom this border ;one!6
Still% @andis cautioned that the al#"usra 3ront is continuing to gain strength in southern Syria!
6This is the trouble with the (merican strategy o$ helping the moderates%6 he said! 6Bou can't
see anywhere where it is really wor0ing because the moderates are being pushed aside!6
Baari challenges that account% noting that Syria's local insurgents remain the dominant $orce
along the borderE and although the al#"usra 3ront has made inroads% its southern#based $ighters
are mostly drawn $rom the local community% not recruited $rom $oreign >ihadi networ0s! ?e
also said there is little evidence that the nited States is active in the area! 6What has happened
in northeastern Syria% north o$ 1amascus% has not been repeated in the south%6 Baari said%
re$erring to the predominance o$ extremist >ihadists! 6Bou may as0 yoursel$ whether Cordanian
and Israeli activities have contributed to that! Israel and Cordan would not li0e al Daeda to
establish itsel$ on their borders!6
The !"! mission was established in )*+, along a narrow strip o$ the .olan ?eights to monitor
a truce between Israel and Syria! The once#sleepy mission ## comprising )%8-) 3i>ian% 3ilipino%
Indian% Irish% "epalese% and 1utch peace0eepers ## has regularly ta0en $ire since the Syrian civil
war began!
nder the terms that ended the )*+F Bom /ippur War% Syrian and Israeli $orces are prohibited
$rom operating along a narrow strip o$ territory 0nown as the separation ;one! Since the start o$
the civil war% Syrian rebel groups have $looded into the area% giving them a sa$e haven close to
Israel! 'ut the Syrian government has contested the area $or well more than a year% bringing in
tan0s and other heavy weapons and% recently% carrying out airstri0es in rebel#controlled areas!
62n numerous occasions during periods o$ $ighting between the Syrian armed $orces and armed
members o$ the opposition% rounds landed inside or in close proximity to the nited "ations
positions% at times $orcing nited "ations personnel to ta0e shelter%6 according to the report! In
(pril and <ay% Syrian tan0 artillery landed >ust outside a !"! compound% in one case stri0ing
the perimeter $ence! Syrian authorities are unwilling to clear the delivery o$ high#tech
equipment designed to neutrali;e improvised explosive devices 4IE1s5! The equipment% which
could improve sa$ety $or blue helmets% is in 'eirut awaiting customs clearance!
The nited States% Cordan% Saudi (rabia% and Israel reportedly channeled their assistance to
local Syrian rebel groups ## including the newly constituted Southern Front ## viewing them
as less radical than the al#"usra 3ront or ISIS! 'ut !"! o$$icials say that some o$ the groups
have $ired on !"! peace0eepers and even laid IE1s near roads traveled by !"! peace0eepers!
2ne !"! o$$icial said militants who $ired on Irish peace0eepers said they thought the blue
helmets were actually Russian $ighters supporting (ssad's government% even though there are
no Russian peace0eepers in the mission! Scholar Edmund 'ur0e wrote in the Irish Times that
the attac0s were more extensive! The report claims that Western#bac0ed groups% including the
Barmou0 'rigade% are coordinating military attac0s with the al#"usra 3ront% underscoring the
degree to which so#called 6moderates6 and 6extremists6 can be indistinguishable on the
battle$ield!
The !"! blue helmets have been harassed by the rebels be$ore! In <arch 8=)F% a local rebel
group% the <artyrs o$ Barmou0 'rigade% kidn!!ed 8) peace0eepers% claiming that they were
aiding the Syrian government! 6It remains critical that countries with in$luence continue to
strongly convey to the armed opposition groups in the "123 area o$ operation the need to
halt all activities that endanger !"! peace0eepers on the ground% including $iring at
peace0eepers%6 the report states!
Some ,== armed opposition $ighters% bac0ed by artillery $ire $rom three tan0s% sei;ed a Syrian
military outpost atop a hill at Tal al#.arbi% planting $our blac0 $lags and raising concern that
extremist groups are moving into the ;one!
<ore than two wee0s later% opposition $ighters captured two other strategically important
hilltop military outposts in Tal al#Cabiya and Tal al#Sharqi!
6In the a$ternoon o$ 8, (pril% two members o$ the armed opposition displayed the severed head
o$ a presumed Syrian armed $orces o$$icer as they passed6 a !"! outpost% according to the
report! 'y the end o$ (pril% !"! observers 6detected the $lying o$ blac0 $lags believed to be
associated with militant groups scattered throughout the central and southern part o$ the area o$
separation% including three Syrian armed $orces positions captured by the armed members o$
the opposition!6
This story has been updated.