Israel army says assisting UN force in ‘repelling attack’ in Syria

This picture taken from the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights, shows smoke rising over the outskirts of the Syrian village of Hader during Israeli bombardment, on Dec. 7, 2024. (AFP)

• “A short while ago, an attack was carried out by armed individuals at a UN post in the Hader area in Syria,” the army said
• “The (Israeli army) is currently assisting the UN forces in repelling the attack“

JERUSALEM: The Israeli army said Saturday that its troops were assisting UN peacekeepers in the Golan Heights in repelling an attack “by armed individuals,” while the foreign minister said “armed forces” had entered the UN-patrolled buffer zone.
There was no immediate comment from the UN force.
“A short while ago, an attack was carried out by armed individuals at a UN post in the Hader area in Syria,” the army said in a statement, referring to a Syrian town on the edge of the buffer zone.
“The (Israeli army) is currently assisting the UN forces in repelling the attack.”
Late on Saturday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar posted on X: “During the last day, armed forces entered the buffer zone on the Syrian side of the border with Israel. Among other things, attacks were carried out on the (peacekeepers) in the area.”
He said Israel was “troubled by violations” of the 1974 armistice with Syria. “Israel does not intervene in the internal conflict in Syria,” he added.
Earlier on Saturday, Syrian militants took control of the provincial capital of Quneitra around 12 kilometers (eight miles) south of Hader, Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The long-stalemated Syrian civil war burst back into life late last month, with militants sweeping across the country and capturing multiple major cities.
The military said that army chief Herzi Halevi visited the Syrian border on Saturday, He too underlined that Israel was not intervening in Syria.
He said Israel’s “primary focus is on observing Iran’s movements and interests” while a “secondary focus” was on Syrian factions and “ensuring they do not mistakenly direct their actions toward us.”
The military declined to comment on Saturday evening when asked if the attack was ongoing.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it was “reinforcing aerial and ground forces” in the Israeli-occupied parts of the Golan in response to the situation in Syria. And on Saturday it said it had conducted exercises to ensure troop readiness.
Israel conquered most of the Golan Heights during the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed the territory in a move never recognized by the international community as a whole.
A UN peacekeeping force, UNDOF, has patrolled a buffer zone between the Israeli- and Syrian-controlled zones since 1974.
In August 2014, Islamist militants attacked UNDOF and took more than 40 Fijian peacekeepers hostage, holding them captive for almost two weeks.